Rules of Acquisition
by Torenza
Summary: AU. IYKAG. Inuyasha and Kagome defy their families wishes and expectations when they find companionship in one another in Romeo and Juliet circumstances. But how can they truly be in love when at night they are rivals who seek each others destruction?
1. Strangers in the Night

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, so don't sue me, and everyone will be happy ^_^  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N: Yay! A brand new story for you all to sink your teeth into, posted sooner than I thought... but that's ok ^_^  
  
A note before I begin: Once again I'm gonna mess around with the idea of Kagome's latent Miko powers. Yes, I know that her real powers are basically purifying like Kikyo's powers but those who have read my previous story 'To Get Ahead' will know that I often change her powers to something else. But I think you'll basically pick up the idea as you read along. I'm really just playing with this idea. ^_^  
  
So since this fic is gonna be divided between two main characters, I'll be switching points of view from time to time - so you'll have to watch out for that.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
Souta had always said it was the perfect opportunity for me to become Lara Croft or some kind of Avenging Angel. You know, get kited out with all the black leather and cool spy weapons. That's how Sango liked to say her work was like.  
  
Sango had worked for our family for two years now... and she was very good at what she did. Of course, Souta loved the whole conspirator, spy kind of work and always wanted to hear about it from Sango. So she'd romanticise what she did for my father, how she'd battle ninjas and an army of men with automatic machine guns. Yet somehow she'd always make it home without a scratch on her.  
  
Though, it was nothing like that. At all. The whole leather and guns thing was just a fairytale. In reality, Sango wore her old black jeans and boots with a long sleeved black T-shirt with some of those winter gloves that her auntie had knitted her the previous year.  
  
Her work involved spying on people (which was usually just a case of eavesdropping on conversations or just talking information out of people) and sometimes stealing. Stealing is a bad thing... but she only steals from bad people... so that makes it good, ok? She goes in through a window, deactivates any security systems with codes she will have obtained earlier and then she'll literally waltz in, grab what she wants, and then waltz out. Then she hands it to my father and she gets paid lots of money. Not that glamorous, but...  
  
Now I was doing it with her.  
  
My dad says that my powers need to manifest... so he wants to put me in certain situations that might give me better control of them. So here I was, silently creeping along the museum corridor behind Sango who was strolling along like she was out for a Sunday walk in the park... or the museum... in this case at least.  
  
"Are you sure you should walk so loud?" I hissed to her.  
  
She glanced over her shoulder at me, the cloth material of the mask that his the lower half of her face flopped against her shoulder. The same material had been employed to tie her hair up, so only a strip of her face could be seen - her eyes... which was pretty useful. Though I was wearing the same thing, and I was finding it difficult to breathe.  
  
"No one's here, Kagome." She told me quietly. "And the cameras have been switched off, remember?"  
  
"Right..."  
  
Still, I couldn't help but be a little nervous. This was my first time after all. But all we were doing was hunting around to find the place where the Shikon jewel had been displayed.  
  
It may have been a very small, minor mission to test my first time on... but what we were after was a whole lot more important than anything else.  
  
Outside I could hear the wind howling around the corners of the building and the tree branches tapping against the windows. How many times had I jumped at a crash of lightning overhead? Too many times so that I was almost embarrassing myself.  
  
"Why couldn't we have done this tomorrow night?" I whispered, quickly catching up to her as the rain pelting against the roof seemed to grow louder.  
  
"If we wait another night then the Arashi's employee will grab it before me." Sango reminded me.  
  
That would be a decisively bad thing, I decided. Sango was the Higurashi employee, and for a long time she'd had to compete against the other employee to get stuff for us that the Arashi's also wanted. It was a pain in the ass for her and she'd failed numerous times to retrieve stuff for our family because the Arashi family had got it first.  
  
It's a long, long story, with a long, long history behind it. It's a rivalry thing that's been going on since the Sengoku era... but when it all comes down to it the Arashi's are greedy, selfish and evil. They ARE all demons after all.  
  
"You ok?" Sango asked as she seemed to notice how I was falling behind.  
  
"I'm fine." I nodded and caught up again. "I was just thinking about what would happen if it was one of those nights that you came across that guy that you say always gets in your-"  
  
the sound of a slamming door or window cut short my sentence and we both glanced back up the corridor we were moving down. We were completely silent before I shifted a quick glance at Sango. "What was that?"  
  
"The wind...?" she said quietly.  
  
"Or a security guard..." I pointed out.  
  
We waited uneasily for a moment, but no other sounds could be heard after that.  
  
"Ok... I think the Shikon thing is this way." Sango said after a beat and started to jog at a quick pace down the corridor, her feet now moving silently along the floor. Obviously she was being careful now. I felt like saying 'I told you so' but I'm not petty. I hope.  
  
I quickly jogged after her as we approached a four-way junction where four corridors met in one place.  
  
"It's just through there." Sango whispered, pointing through a doorway ahead of us.  
  
We arrived at the junction and were about to run into the room when a third person arrived aiming for the same place. And me, being me, screamed and hid behind Sango.  
  
"You!" Sango growled hotly.  
  
"You!" the other person growled in response.  
  
From my vantage point I could clearly see the other person was male, big, and strong looking. I couldn't tell what he looked like because he was using the same kind of head dress as us, leaving all skin covered up with black except for the eyes... which were violet. He seemed relatively young though, just like us.  
  
"Here to take the Shikon?" Sango braced herself into a fighting stance. "You'll have to go through me!"  
  
"And here I thought you were going to challenge me." The guy scoffed and also took the same stance.  
  
I suddenly felt very worried. "Hey..." I tugged at the back of her jacket. "This isn't a good idea..."  
  
"Girl... I'll distract this guy - you get the Shikon, ok?" Sango whispered back.  
  
"Neither of you are getting past." The guy growled, there was something strange about him that I couldn't quite put my finger on.  
  
"Go!" Sango shouted as she ran at the guy.  
  
I saw her lunge at him, about to complete a jab to the stomach, but instead he just grabbed her arm and spun her around so she thudded against the wall. The move seemed to surprise her... but then I noticed this guy was now aiming for me.  
  
"Wait!" I raised my hands to shield myself from any blows he sent my way and closed my eyes. Yes... if it wasn't already obvious... I can't fight the way Sango can...  
  
The blow never came, and finally I had enough courage to peep open an eye. The guy was looking around, turning this way and that while Sango seemed to be getting over her dizzy spell in the background.  
  
"Where the fuck did she go..." he muttered.  
  
Then I realised... it had happened again.  
  
It usually did happen at times like this. Times when I was hiding from the nanny because she wanted to give me a bath when I was little. For some reason her eyes had suddenly gone blind to the sight of me. Times when I wanted to sneak inside after I'd been out late all night - I'd be able to walk through a room of people and no one would know I was there.  
  
And like right now... someone wanted to attack me... but he couldn't see me. I was invisible... yet only to him.  
  
"Go!" Sango yelled again, her eyes fixing on me a moment before launching a newly angled attack on the Arashi employee.  
  
I quickly took the opportunity to make a run for the room Sango had pointed out earlier. I ran straight past the fighting pair and through the doorway and quickly began hunting around the cabinets and glass cases for the rose pink call of glass or whatever. Outside I could hear grunts and gasps as Sango landed punches or received some. She was tough, I knew she could take it. Actually, I was more concerned for the Arashi guy, cause I certainly wouldn't like to cross Sango on a bad day in a dark alley.  
  
Then I found it - the lone glass case in the corner of the large room, guarded only by a velvet red rope. I quickly hopped over it and ran forward... but my joy quickly sank to the soles of my feet. The label before the glass case said 'Shikon' and gave a little description, but inside the case was a velvet blue cushion with a little indent in it. That was all.  
  
Someone had gotten to it before me.  
  
And all I could think about was how mad my father was going to be when we got home and told him the bad news. Eek!"  
  
"You asshole!" I heard Sango shout from outside.  
  
Best to get hat girl out of there before she murdered him.  
  
I ran out again and grabbed Sango by the arm as she lunged at the boy again. I think I was visible to them both by now. "Let's go." I said quickly, planning to explain in less dire circumstances.  
  
She immediately took off with me, heading down the corridor before they guy knew what was happening. For a moment I thought he was going to give chase, but he just stayed where he was, watching us leave. Come to think of it I don't think I'd like to meet that guy in a dark alley either.  
  
We managed to find our way to the window we had used to enter the museum and jumped down onto the grass below and started to jog away seeing as we weren't in any hurry now.  
  
Sango quickly turned to me as we jogged. "Show me - what does it look like..."  
  
"I don't have it." I answered, wincing behind the material of my mask.  
  
"What?!" Sango stopped dead and pull the lower half of her facial cloth off so it hung to one side and I could see her deadly serious expression. "I told you to get it!"  
  
"It was already gone, there was nothing else to do!" I also tugged the mask away and looked back at the museum down the street. "That guy probably had it..."  
  
"Stupid Miroku..." Sango hissed under her breath, and for a moment I wondered who she was talking about, before realising that had to have been the name of the guy back in there.  
  
After a moment she shook her head and pulled on my arm to get me moving again. "Come on... we better go explain this to your father then."  
  
Once again I found myself cursing the Arashi family for being so damn fast...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
Miroku had told me to expect one girl only. He had described her as a raven- haired beauty with a temper to match her athletic skills and tight ass. I found myself wondering how the hell he knew all this because from what I could see, she didn't appear any different from any other girl I've met. Plus, I couldn't really tell her apart from the second girl that was there because they both wore black and covered their hair and faces the same way I did.  
  
Miroku is a lecherous moron, I can't say that enough times.  
  
Of course, he had to be a total moron by injuring his arm and making me go in his place to retrieve the Shikon jewel for my own father before the Higurashi's got to it. Then he'd conveniently pointed out that I had to wear contacts because otherwise this girl named Sango would recognise me as an Arashi, which wasn't a good thing apparently.  
  
But there had been two girls there, and I got completely confused as to which one was supposed to be Sango. After fighting the slightly taller girl I think I had it sussed out. The one with the temper like a raging bull was Sango... but I had no idea who the other one was... plus she seemed to kind of disappear.  
  
Then when she'd suddenly reappeared and pulled the other girl out of the fight I feared the worst.  
  
I ran into the room where the Shikon jewel was displayed and up to the cabinet. I clenched my fists angrily upon discovering that the magic girl had already stolen it before me.  
  
"Shit..." I tugged off the material that hid my face and hair and threw it to the floor.  
  
I was such an idiot! I'd let the Higurashi's get the Shikon jewel... and my father was really not going to like this one bit.  
  
For a moment I felt like smashing the glass case before deciding I didn't really need to leave too much damage in my wake otherwise people would reckon I wasn't Miroku. So instead I just picked up the fallen cloth I'd used to hide my very un-Miroku like white hair and hurried out of the building before I overstayed my welcome.  
  
To tell you the truth I was worried. The Higurashi's had managed to hire someone knew... someone with weird abilities that had managed to fool even me. But I knew as long as the Higurashi's had their hands on the Shikon jewel then our family was in trouble.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
"And you just let him GET AWAY with it?!"  
  
I winced as my father's voice seemed to echo around the large dining room. That's the problem with living in such a large house. EVERY sound carries around the rooms and people in the kitchens could probably hear what was being said (yelled) at that very moment.  
  
"It's not like we could have stopped him and taken it from him." Sango sounded miffed.  
  
"He was a big guy, dad." I added quickly.  
  
We were alone with him, for which I was partly glad. At least no one would hear us get chewed out by him.  
  
"Do you know what will happen if the Arashi's get their hands on the Shikon and use it?" my father folded his arms and glared down at us two girls.  
  
"Make a necklace?" I guessed.  
  
He slammed his hand down on the table between us and I realised it wasn't a good time to test his patience.  
  
"The Arashi's are nothing but a large family of greedy, violent, no good Inu Youkai! If they use the Shikon they will become even more powerful and will almost definitely overrun our family. Arashi himself will no doubt use it and he will win the election next month!"  
  
Arashi was the head of the Arashi family, also one of dad's rivals when it came to position of Prime Minister. There were three candidates so far. My dad, Mr Arashi and some guy named Supei, also from a family like us. The main question was, who would win? My dad - descended from a long line of Miko, Mr Arashi from a long line of demons, and in one of the few pure blooded families left, or a totally human guy without anything special.  
  
Us three families played around a lot in politics. The Supei family was quite nice and pleasant... but from what I had heard and seen of the Arashi's, they were nothing but cheating dirty dogs. No pun intended.  
  
"Honey, we have to get that Shikon before the election," my dad spoke directly to me, while I thought he should have been speaking to Sango.  
  
"I know..." I nodded and rolled my eyes.  
  
"Or else we'll lose the election and never live it down."  
  
It was a petty feud of pride, if you asked for my opinion.  
  
"The Shikon was created by you great grandmother, Midoriko - it belongs to us."  
  
"Plus the fact it also brings great fortune to the family who possesses it." Sango remarked absently.  
  
"You talk too much for the amount I pay you, Sango. And you fail a lot more times too." My father cast a glare in her direction, she responded just by rolling her eyes. Then my father turned back to me. "I want you to go to the Arashi household... and I want you to bring the Shikon back for me."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Yep, my dad is pretty crazy too. I was even crazier to believe it would work. But I guess I had to do anything in my power to take down the Arashi's.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
Dad was angry... namely at me... and when he was angry he liked to let a lot of people know about it.  
  
"You let them escape?! WITH THE SHIKON?!" he roared across the lounge.  
  
He was stood at one end, hopping mad, and I was stood in the doorway at the other end. It was quite a distance and normally two people couldn't have a conversation at that kind of distance... but my dad always liked to prove them wrong.  
  
"I did NOT let them escape!" I yelled back. "The girl they usually employ had a friend - she was different! She couldn't have been human!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" my father frowned, his interest suddenly keen.  
  
"They've hired two people now." He lowered my voice since he seemed to be lowering his to what could have been considered a normal conversation volume. "One of them was Sango Taijiya and the other was a girl with weird powers."  
  
"Was she a demon?" my cousin asked on my right. I forget his name sometimes.  
  
"No, she smelt human... for a while." It was going to be difficult to explain.  
  
"For a while?" my father frowned.  
  
I nodded. "She was there one minute... and then gone the next and I couldn't smell her scent anywhere. I thought I'd imagined her but then she reappeared and dragged the other girl off."  
  
Murmurs went around the room after that.  
  
"Has to be a demon of some kind."  
  
"A Kitsune?"  
  
"Maybe she was a Higurashi - after all, they are descended from Miko's."  
  
Miroku chose that moment to speak up. He stuck out like a sore thumb in a room full of white haired Inu Youkai and when he spoke he received several glares. "It's doubtful that she'd be a Higurashi, because even if they are a bunch of Miko, their family hasn't displayed signs of Miko power for generations. It's more likely she's some kind of demon, or a witch."  
  
"Or maybe she's a nun, like you monk?" one of my uncles ground out.  
  
"Maybe..." Miroku shrugged with one shoulder since his other arm was still in a sling.  
  
I was still amazed at times that Miroku even bothered to stick around. My family treated him like dirt because he was human, and disliked him even more because he was a monk with fairly strong spiritual powers and could very easily kill minor demons if he so wanted. But then again he was being paid by my father... paid a LOT actually...  
  
My father grumbled a sigh and clenched his fists a moment before glancing up at me. "Inuyasha, if the Higurashi's have the Shikon then our chances at winning the election are ruined, you got that?"  
  
With all this trouble going on to win the election I had to wonder if perhaps the Supei's would win anyway. That would be just typical considering the little dispute us and the Higurashi's were having.  
  
"I got it." I said flatly.  
  
"So I want you to go and spy on the Higurashi's tonight." He said quickly. "Find out where they are hiding the Shikon jewel."  
  
"You're kidding!" I growled. "Why me?! Why not Sesshomaru?!"  
  
"Busy." Said a man named Sesshomaru who was 'busy' reading a magazine... was that Vogue he was reading?  
  
"Your brother can't do it, because you have to be human in order to cross the threshold of that damned household." My father practically bristled.  
  
"What about Miroku then?!" I ground out.  
  
Miroku helpfully pointed to his bandaged arm. "Too bad."  
  
"Only you can pass into that household, Inuyasha, all you have to do is retrieve the Shikon jewel. Understand?"  
  
I understood perfectly, didn't mean I had to want to do it though. This was the kind of thing Miroku got paid to do. Of course, me risking my life for my father was not considered a job - it was considered a favour, so I wasn't going to be paid. Meanwhile... even though Miroku wasn't doing any work, he was still being paid.  
  
That just sucked. But I guess I had to do whatever I could to make sure the Higurashi's didn't win the election.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N: Well, this idea sounded better in my head, I'm not sure how it's going to play out. But Inuyasha and Kagome will meet next chapter ^_^ Right now, like always, I'm iffy.) 


	2. Eye Spy

Disclaimer: I don't get paid to do anything, hence why I have money, and hence the reason why no one should sue me... because they won't get much out of me.  
  
(A/N: I should really be doing something else right now, but I just can't stay away...)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
Eye Spy  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
Not matter how much I whined, moaned, pleaded and bribed, Sango would and could not come with me on this one. But it was fairly disorientating the jump from bumbling sidekick for a professional, to an independent but less dependable spy.  
  
Dad said it was easy. All I had to do was creep across the lawn using my 'Miko' powers and find a way into the building and then listen in to the conversations being held by the Arashi's. Of course, my dad would say that since HE isn't the one who has to find a way into the building!  
  
Besides, no real control over these powers everyone liked to pride me in. Thankfully they only ever showed when I really, really needed them, but it wasn't like I could just shout 'INVISIBILITY SHIELD!!' and boom I would be invisible like in the movies. It just happened whenever it felt the need.  
  
And even weirder, sometimes when I was happily studying for school (take out the word happily and replace with morosely) and someone would call me downstairs, I would get out of my seat and run to the door. Not so strange maybe. But if I looked back over my shoulder, sometimes I would see myself still sitting there... and sometimes I would see what the other me was reading, even though I was on the other side of the room.  
  
But that kind of thing only lasted for a fraction of a second and so far it's only happened about three times. It's at times like that when I realise I have no idea how far the extent of my powers are... and at times like those I sometimes wish a been a happy little daughter of a farmer in the mountains, and not some Miko's descendant.  
  
And no, I wasn't going to fly over to the Arashi household either... I wasn't that good. I was going to walk... with my woolly hat and gloves on to keep me warm. At times like that I had to resist the temptation to laugh at the movies, since hardly anything to do with spying was anything like James Bond with flashy cars and tuxedos. But maybe that was because James Bond chased Nuclear Bombs and Russian people to save the world - me? I was just saving Japan... saving Japan from falling under the governing of a demon for a prime minister.  
  
The streets were literally deserted since it was way past midnight and moving onto morning. I would be surprised if anyone was even awake in the Arashi household... probably not... But then I would have an excuse as to why I failed. Because I just KNEW I was going to fail somehow.  
  
A sound of someone giving a short cough ahead of me made me look up, suddenly all nervous with fear and anxiety. I saw someone coming in the opposite direction as me and I squinted through the darkness to see if it was a drunk stumbling home from the pub... because that would be dangerous - for him - not for me!  
  
But no, the man walked with a decisively balanced step so he couldn't have been drunk, unless he could hide it very well. And also I noticed his hair reflected strongly in the street lamp light. He had WHITE hair.  
  
For a few moments I started to hyperventilate as I realised he must have been an Arashi and I was a Higurashi. He was bigger, I was smaller, I was going to get my ass kicked from here to... some place far, I didn't like to think how far. But then I spotted two little fuzzy triangles perched on top of his head and the panic eased somewhat. Arashi's were all the same, with their characteristic stripes, spots, and pointy ears with long white hair, no matter what gender. This guy did not fit that description. He was free from any dark markings that I could see of, and the only resemblance to an Arashi was his hair. Lots of demons these days had white hair, it wasn't so unusual.  
  
Relief rushed through me and I smiled politely as he passed by me. He returned it somewhat briefly but was on his way to someplace or other and didn't seem to want distractions. I, on the other hand, wouldn't have minded a good distraction round about now... anything to stall for time.  
  
A few minutes later and I found myself at the gates of the driveway leading to the Arashi estate. This place always gave me the creeps. As a kid I had usually come around with my cousins and thrown rocks at the windows... as retaliation their kids always gave round and threw boulders into the roof...  
  
But it looked so gloomy and miserable that I couldn't comprehend anyone wanting to live here unless it was one of those horror movie pacts where a family has to stay in an inherited haunted house for one night in order to own it... The building was huge and old fashioned made out of sturdy materials and... were they gargoyles under the eves, or just bats?  
  
I shivered and slowly began to take off my mittens and coat despite the cold chill. I dropped my duffel bag on the ground and opened it to retrieve some of my usual kit to go do spy stuff. Since I was already wearing dark clothes I didn't both changing into my Gi entirely and just opted for covering my hair with the cloth scarf and pinning it in place so it hid half my face. I wouldn't really need it, but on the off chance that my invisibility trick failed me, I'd still need to hide my face.  
  
Shoving my bag under a wild bush by the side of the gates I stood back and took a full look at how I was going to do this. If I had been cat woman (which I assure you I am not) I would scale the fence in one leap then scale the building with my clever claws and then use a Santa Claus technique by jumping down the chimney.  
  
Um... not today I think...  
  
Instead I just settled for the usual way and slowly began to climb over the gate, one step at a time. The top edge was jagged with iron pokers... one wrong slip and I would be skewered and very embarrassed when they found me, or dead. Fortunately all those years of watching Sango and intermittent Gym lessons seemed to pay off, as not even the slippery wet bars managed to make me slip up.  
  
I dropped down to the ground quietly and began to hurry my way up the driveway that was completely swamped with shrubs on either side of me. I wasn't visible from the house at this point, but as I turned the bend I squeaked and backed up quickly as I was not only faced with the house but several dogs and their handlers patrolling the grounds.  
  
This was it. This was where I pressed the magic button and strolled on through.  
  
But like I said, this was real life, and I was going to have to rely on my wits to guide me through this one. If I was in the morgue by the morning I would blame my father... after all, Sango was the one who was being paid for this kind of thing, not me.  
  
"Please don't see me... please don't smell me... please don't see me... please don't smell me." I chanted under my breath as I closed my eyes and gathered my nerve up.  
  
Ever so slowly I stepped out into the open again and waited for someone to shout that there was an intruder. But there were no shouts, so I slowly peeked open my eyes and gasped. A dog and his handler passed within a metre of me without any sign that they could actually see me. The dog, however, turned his head slightly in my direction, almost as if he could sense something there, but his handler quickly jerked his chain lead and the dog trotted off again without so much as a bark.  
  
Big sigh of relief from me at this point.  
  
I hurried quickly across the grassy plateau like area and straight through the archway into the middle courtyard that was surrounded by the tall rising household. A flicker of movement above me caught my attention and I glanced up to see a curtain move briefly at one of the windows above me. But it was enough to catch glimpse of the man who was soon to become Prime Minister if my father failed.  
  
Seeing as I was still apparently invisible and scentless, I looked around for a quick way up. I was surprised to find that maybe I could actually do a cat woman stunt and scale the side of the building, since inside here there were plenty of railings, balconies and open walkways with lots of outcropping eaves to grab on to.  
  
It only took me a few minutes to actually clamber my way up onto the balcony outside the window where I crouched low and listened intently to anything that was said within.  
  
"No, no - you can't have green drapes with a RED carpet! Don't you know the rhyme? Red and green should never be seen?" someone was saying.  
  
"Then what about Christmas? People always put red stuff on green trees - so wouldn't that be considered tasteless?"  
  
"Duh - that's Christmas! That's allowed!"  
  
Blood thirsty fiends...  
  
"Aren't we kind of wandering away from topic?" someone asked, someone with a slightly smoother voice than the others. Curiosity won over and I raised my head slightly to peep through the window through the gap in the curtains. I saw him - he stood out like a black cat among a bunch of white cats. Definitely human, but his back was turned to me and I couldn't see much more than his shoulders and head.  
  
"So maybe they do have the Shikon jewel, what could they really do with it? They can't use it like us demons can." One of the white haired women spoke out.  
  
"Yes, but it brings fortune to the family who possesses it." Someone out of my range of sight said. "They will surely win the election if they possess it."  
  
"Well, we'll know soon if they have it." That had been Arashi himself, the head of the family. I could recognise that voice anywhere... but it had me confused. If they didn't have the Shikon jewel... and we didn't have it either... some third party must have had it...  
  
That sucked...  
  
"Wait... do you smell something?" I heard someone murmur just loud enough for me to hear. "Smells like... lavender..."  
  
This was my cue to leave. I'd just had a shower earlier and had used Lavender soap - which keen demon noses would pick up probably no matter how invisible I was.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
When you come right down to it, the almighty, all powerful Miko family, the Higurashi's, are just about as blind and bumbling as the average human. Oh sure, they can hide behind sacred scrolls of ancient family trees to say that maybe once they had been something more... but in actual fact you could just replace them with a family from one of the council estates and it won't make much of a difference.  
  
This much was obvious the moment I arrived at the driveway. They had all kinds of technical security devices in place to stop people doing just what I was about to do... and they even had monk's scrolls like the ones Miroku uses, here and there, to prevent demons entering the estate.  
  
Well... it slowed me down a little... but it was quite pathetic altogether.  
  
One leap and I was over the gates and through the bushes. Two more leaps and I was onto the lower roof - two more and I was at the very top. Then it was just a matter and strolling across, no hurry, and listen for the room where the Higurashi's would be residing in, if they were even awake that was.  
  
The faint murmur of conversation rose up from beneath and I quietly slid down the mossy slates of the roof to the edge. There, I lay on my stomach and half hung over the edge to get a better listen in on the conversation.  
  
A couple of minutes later and I was eating my words about the reliability of the Higurashi spells... because I was starting to get a headache. And it definitely hadn't been caused by stress, because I could see the ofuda scrolls and charms plastered to the outer walls of the house. If it had been my brother in my place, then he would probably be stricken down even harder than just a headache... but if it had been Miroku, he would still be oblivious to the spells.  
  
As it was, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate at the task at hand, and since I didn't particularly want to fall off the roof and alert everyone with a big thud, I decided it was time to go. I'd heard enough anyway.  
  
The Higurashi's had been incompetent as always, and had failed to retrieve the Shikon no Tama... just like me. This meant someone other than the Higurashi's had the jewel... and no doubt I was going to have my head bitten off for this.  
  
I'd also seen that bitch... what was her name... Sango... the one who had attacked me the other night. But there had been no sign of any little accomplice.  
  
With a defeated sigh I carefully stood up and began to make my way back up the roof. Unfortunately... my head was literally swimming with bright colours and strangely enough my hands were beginning to burn from where I gripped the roof tiles. And just when I'd reached the top of the higher roof tier, my feet slipped on the moss underneath me and I started to roll down the tiles, before slipping off the roof entirely.  
  
I landed with a loud thud on the roof beneath that one and started to slide all the way down that one too. Once again I slipped off that roof as well and landed with a thud against the garage roof  
  
It was NOT funny, because by the time I actually hit the ground my head hurt, my hands were skinned and I could barely see anything. It took a few moments for my senses to come back as my proximity to the spells and charms was lessened. When I looked up I realised I was in the bushes.  
  
"Shit..." I swore quietly and took my time getting to my feet.  
  
I felt I had learned a very important lesson on this trip.  
  
The fact that everyone said the Higurashi's were powerless... was a load of bull shit.  
  
I was lucky to even stagger out of there in one piece, let alone undetected. One thing had to be said, I wouldn't be underestimating those loonies in the near future. And those perimeter fences seemed a lot taller when you actually had to climb up them instead of leaping over them.  
  
The further I got from the house, the better I started to feel, until eventually I had enough strength to stop and take off the cloth mask and what not. It wouldn't exactly be ideal if I came across someone in the darkness wearing black masks and everything.  
  
But I'd learned many new things that would help my dad. First of all, the Higurashi's did NOT have the Shikon no Tama as I had expected, and I knew what Sango looked like now. Not bad looking... but not the brilliant raven haired damsel Miroku liked to say she was. For a start she seemed a little shrewish for my taste and she had nearly kicked my ass... something I disliked even more. And if I ever came across her little disappearing companion I would string her up by her heart strings too.  
  
I rounded a corner sharply and bumped into something smaller and softer than me. I barely caught the girl in time to stop her flying backwards.  
  
"Whoa!" the girl windmilled her arms as I grabbed the front of her shirt to stop her falling. "Hey! Watch those hands!"  
  
I released her quickly, before realising she was the same girl I had passed from before, the one who resembled Kikyo a little.  
  
"You know, it's not good to go running in the middle of the night, scaring people like that." she held a hand over her beating heart and glared at me.  
  
"I could say the same for you!" I snapped, feeling that this had been, in no way, my fault. However, the moment I spoke she gave me a strange look.  
  
"It's different, I'm a girl - who could I scare?" she shrugged her jacket on tighter and started to move around me. "Must go - I have... um... people to see."  
  
"Me too." I shook my head unbelievingly before rushing along the same way I had been heading. I glanced over my shoulder briefly and saw she'd broken out into a run too, heading exactly the same way I had come.  
  
Now there was a freaky coincidence.  
  
Anyway, where was I... Oh yeah! If I ever found that little bitch who'd managed to throw me for a loop earlier with that disappearing trick - she would pay big time!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
Miroku... he must have been the guy Sango had been fighting the other night. He looked roughly the same height and build... but maybe the voice was a little different... I didn't get that.  
  
And then I'd bumped into that white headed goon that I'd seen before and had nearly had me flying, fortunately (or unfortunately) he'd been quick to grab me. And the moment he'd spoke I'd realised his voice had sounded strangely familiar, like I'd heard it before. A very unique voice, slightly rougher than average but still with a young man's tone and richness...  
  
And now I'd realised - it belonged to that assailant in the museum. But that didn't make any sense at all, because that assailant had definitely been Miroku, according to Sango, plus he'd had violet eyes. The white haired guy had rather strong amber eyes flecked with gold. They looked like cat eyes... and those ears looked peculiarly like Buyo's ears... was he a cat demon?  
  
Well, maybe I had been wrong. That voice probably wasn't as unique as I'd thought. Either that or my memory was playing tricks on me.  
  
I arrived home and trudged my way to the living room, trailing mud in my wake and ignoring the indignant splutters of the maids and butlers. I tried to be a little helpful and decided to pick up the neglected post on the way to see my father. I entered and handed him the bills, much to his joy, and told him about the situation with the Shikon jewel - to his further joy.  
  
"You did good, Kagome." He told me and wrinkled his nose. "You go have a shower now."  
  
No 'thank god you're alive' remarks. But what did I expect?  
  
I was just about to turn and go when my father ripped open a letter and raised his eyebrows in surprise at what he read.  
  
"What?" I asked out of curiosity.  
  
"The Supei's have invited us to a formal get together... or more like a ball... this Friday." He smirked. "For the press I suppose, to show there are no ill feelings between us."  
  
That was ok, because there weren't actually any ill feelings between us and the Supei's. There was nothing to hold against them. They were so ordinary that I kind of envied them. But that probably wasn't the end of the story... "Let me guess - are they inviting the Arashi's as well?"  
  
He turned the letter over and looked at the back to a list of the guests invited. "Nope, just us and a few more impressive families in our circle."  
  
"That's good..." I yawned and headed away, determined that I'd had enough excitement tonight to last for quite some time yet.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
"You did WHAT?!"  
  
"Slipped! Get over it!" I ducked another effort he made to clip my ear. "Will you stop that! It's not my fault - you should have sent Miroku! Those spells they have on the house are fucking dangerous!"  
  
"Dammit... if you want something done you have to do it yourself!" my dad stomped off to pace the length of the kitchen. Unfortunately I'd broke the news moments before he'd had that drink of coffee to calm his nerves, and now I was paying for that mistake.  
  
"Hey - if you wanted to go - that would be fine by me!" I growled and folded my arms. "A full demon like you would probably have passed out the moment he got over the gate!"  
  
"That's not the point!" he snarled back. "The point is now we haven't got a clue where the Shikon no Tama is being held!"  
  
Good point.  
  
"Not my fault." I grumbled.  
  
"Go away Inuyasha, don't you have to go to work now?" he smirked. "Wouldn't want you to be late for work."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
Oh yes, the big family joke - Inuyasha's job! They all liked to poke fun at me for this... but no way was I quitting until I earned enough money to get that holiday to China. It would be a nice getaway from this lot...  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
"Come!" my father shouted and the door opened with a snap. A slight young woman with black hair, black whiskers and black hands came in, holding a letter in her hand.  
  
"Mail, sir." She gave a short curtsey after handing him the letter and scurried out.  
  
My dad sat down to read it and I took it as my cue to leave. Just as I got to the door he stopped me.  
  
"Tell the others to prepare for a ball on Friday night."  
  
"Who's hosting?" I asked.  
  
"The Supei's - they're not inviting the Higurashi's I don't think."  
  
We both sighed with relief and I went to take some headache pills and crash out on the bed. Hopefully I would get at least ten minutes sleep before I would need to get up and go to work.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A/N: They're all so clueless... anyway next chapter is the ball chapter.) 


	3. It Takes Balls

Disclaimer: see chap 1 for details  
  
(A/N: I'm still iffy about this one, I don't think I'll continue this one after this chapter.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
It Takes Balls...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
Most father's like to boast about their daughters, letting everyone know just how special she is and how well she's doing at school. About how he's having to fend off the boys with a stick (which they often say is like using a stick to fight back a tsunami wave), and bragging about how smart and talented she is...  
  
Not my dad...  
  
Lately my father has been taking up a rather bad habit of 'putting me down' so no one will suspect our family's 'little secret'. To total strangers and family friends alike, he'll tell them all about me failing maths and having to repeat it in the summer, and about how I'm really too ditzy to really think about careers. I know he's only doing it so that no one will think I'm his new little spy, but what gets me is that I have to go along with it.  
  
"Good evening, Higurashi." Mr Supei greeted our family group at the entrance with a cheerful enough smile. "I'm glad you could all make it - and you brought lovely Akari Higurashi with you as well!"  
  
He bent over my mother's hand and kissed it politely. "You look stunning tonight, Akari." He told her with a smile.  
  
"Thank you." She nodded with her own smile. Then Mr Supei's gaze fell on me and a big smile spread on his face... I think my reputation had proceeded me this time.  
  
"And here's little Kagome." He chucked my chin like adults do to young children. "Last time I saw you, you were on this high."  
  
He held his hand to his waist.  
  
"That's really strange because last time I saw you I could have sworn you were taller. Do you think we traded height?" I asked with a perky smile. He couldn't tell, but I was being sarcastic... Only my father noticed and he rewarded me with a small jab in the ribs.  
  
"You look as lovely as your mother." He smiled at me again. "I like your dress."  
  
"Thanks! I like yours too." I responded with a ditzy grin.  
  
My father promptly cleared his throat, noticing I was getting carried away. "Thank you for the invitation, Supei, we're very thankful."  
  
And at that we all moved into the house and were guided straight to the large hall that was brightly lit with lights and tasteful music. At once my family began mingling and my father took me around to show me off to the other guests. He may have been pretending I was stupid, but he was still proud that I had a pretty face to make up for it.  
  
But within a matter of minutes I felt the need to throttle my father as the whole charade was becoming a bit too much... then I spotted the one familiar face I recognised in the entire ballroom.  
  
Sango had just entered rather casually in a long slinky gold dress that was more concealing than the other dresses in the room. Even though I KNEW she hadn't been invited, she seemed to blend into the flock like she'd been born to mix. She smiled charmingly as she scooped a flute of champagne from a waiter's tray as he passed and she greeted people she recognised with a cheery smile.  
  
"Sango!" I called, tearing away from my father's group of friends to reach her. She saw me and suddenly smiled.  
  
"Hey there!" she grinned.  
  
"What are you doing here?" did she know the Supei's without us knowing?  
  
"Gate crashing." She said breezily and sipped her drink. "I went to your house and found everyone gone - I was really offended you didn't invite me along. So I just came anyway."  
  
"I didn't think you were a party person," I commented.  
  
"I'm not. But there are so many business men around her... I just might get another job offer."  
  
Oh yeah... I kept forgetting that Sango was into the monogamy deal with the Higurashi's. She'd probably go work for the Supei's at the drop of a hat, but she would still remain loyal to my family, I knew that much at least.  
  
Sango opened her mouth to say something else before her gaze slipped to the entrance of the ballroom and her eyes snapped wide and her mouth hung open. "Oh dear..."  
  
"What's the matter...?" I turned to follow her gaze before feeling my insides freeze.  
  
The whole Arashi family had just sauntered in like they owned the place. It was unnerving... annoying... and I could just feel the fine hairs on the back of my neck bristle with irritation. I glanced over at the rest of my family and noticed they'd suddenly noticed the Arashi's arrival as well. They looked as hostile as I did.  
  
It looked like this ball wasn't going to be a very pretty one.  
  
"Come on." Sango touched my arm gently and lead me further away from the entrance. "The last thing we need is a confrontation here. The press with come along soon."  
  
I glanced over my shoulder at the Arashi's before resigning myself to follow Sango's lead. She knew better than I that the Arashi's were dangerous, aggressive pigs that only wanted to win the election so they could gloat at the Higurashi's. I didn't want to mingle with them... and no doubt Sango felt the same way.  
  
"I know - why don't I introduce you to some of my friends?" Sango smiled tightly... though I had the feeling that she was more than just avoiding the Arashi's... more like she was avoiding someone in particular.  
  
How low would the Arashi's go to just barge in on a party uninvited...?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
"Remember what I said." Dad hissed into my ear, tanking on my forelock of hair to hold me close. "Keep it down... play it dumb! You're only half an Arashi demon - make sure you act like the clutzy half human you are."  
  
"Want me to kiss Supei ass too?" I ground out through clenched teeth.  
  
"That would be nice." He released my hair and I hastily rubbed my sore scalp. He pointed a finger at me sternly. "Remember... I don't want attention drawn towards you - you're an embarrassment enough as it is..."  
  
Only because of my job... Some people were just too picky.  
  
My family sauntered off ahead into the ballroom, while I had been told to wait a little while before I could enter so no one would associate me with Arashi's. Don't you just feel the love? I had been milling there for almost a minute when I felt a hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Nervous?" Miroku asked as I spun on him. His arm was no longer in a sling, but it was still bandaged and hidden underneath the sleeve of his jacket.  
  
"What the heck are you doing here?"  
  
"Crashing?" Miroku started off through the doors. "I hear that rich men's daughters get to spend money on plastic surgery and short skirts. Yum."  
  
"Oh yes. Plastic girls. Yum." I responded sarcastically as I followed Miroku into the ballroom. Finally I got an eyeful of the guests and sighed... wishing I hadn't been dragged along to this. If my dad didn't want me to be associated with him then why had he demanded I come? I would have been happy to work my night shift... but no... Dad wanted to show me off to my lowest potential, and make sure everyone in that room knew I was a moron.  
  
"Let me introduce you to the girls I know." Miroku offered.  
  
After a while I began to realise that Miroku knew EVERY girl in the room, and he flirted with all his acquaintances as well. Once a girl in a slinky gold dress passed by, looking annoyed and deliberately gazing the other way from Miroku and me.  
  
Miroku seemed to know her. "Hey Sango!"  
  
"Bite me." Was her rather callused resp0nse.  
  
"Gladly..." Miroku said quietly, tilting his gaze lower than her back as she stalked away.  
  
"That's Sango!" I stared at her. "The little brat with the bull's temple?"  
  
"Oh yeah, you had a run-in with her didn't you." Miroku said absently, but I think he was too busy staring after Sango to pay too much attention. "Must go... check out something."  
  
Yeah... check out Sango some more. "Do me a favour?" I asked. "Look for a girl she might be hanging around with... slightly shorter." I though for a moment. "Or you could do us all a favour and get yourself neutered."  
  
"Ok."  
  
Yep, he definitely wasn't listening at all and he soon slipped off through the crowd in Sango's wake. I looked around and wondered what to test my clumsiness out on first? My dad wanted me to look like a bleach blond ditz? Well he was going to get more than he bargained for...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
Sango had run off somewhere and I had been left to talk to Hojo and Kouga. Both rather attractive young men... but both slightly dim. I always seemed to attract that sort. Nice but dim. Well it was better than attracting the charming but abusive sort.  
  
I was supposed to fit right in with these two because I was acting witless too... but acting witless around the witless was not witty and extremely hard. I looked around for some sort of escape, or some choking person that I could rush up to and save - anything to get me out of there. I gave a forced giggle as I twirled a curled lock of hair around a finger and slanted my gaze off to the side, looking for the fire escape or a window to jump out of.  
  
Somewhere amidst the crowd there was a crash as a tray of champagne flutes smashed against the floor before someone calling out. "Sorry - my bad!"  
  
Something about that voice sounded familiar...  
  
"Kagome?" Kouga broke into my thoughts. "Would you like to dance?"  
  
"No, I never did ballet - I can't dance." I said mindlessly and smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry, I'm feeling really hungry. I'll just go and top up my plate at the buffet table."  
  
I gave them both a little wave as I trekked my already overflowing plate back to the buffet table. Behind me I heard another crash and a woman crying out. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted my father across the room instead. He was with my mother and a few of her sisters, talking to... Mr Arashi and a few other members of his family. My shock was instantaneous... and just couldn't tear my eyes away in wonder. Why were they talking? Why were they laughing at each others jokes... why were they being polite to one another. Last time my father and Mr Arashi had met, my father had wound up with a flesh wound and Mr Arashi had ended up with a rather sever fever.  
  
But right now they were acting like the best of buddies.  
  
Then I noticed... the press were standing a short distance away, flashing their cameras repeatedly at the conversing group who pretended they didn't notice... though I suppose it is pretty hard to be oblivious to so many flashing lights that it could cause seizures. So they were only being polite to each other for show...  
  
I sighed and rolled my eyes. Deciding to waste some time, I grabbed a new plate and started selecting my food again, taking my time and being as picky as possible.  
  
The sound of spilling liquid on the floor splashed almost directly behind me... and I realised with another sigh that the ball klutz was coming this way. I quickly moved out of his way as he arrived at the table and picked it a plate. He fumbled with it a moment before promptly dropping it. "Oh dear."  
  
That had sounded really unconvincing and I glanced up at him suspiciously the same time he must have glanced at me. My eyes widened in surprise... It was HIM! The guy I'd bumped into the other night!  
  
"Oh... dear..." he repeated, with more feeling this time.  
  
"You..." I said softly, half in awe. The last time I'd seen him it had been very dark... but right now it was very much bright... let me just say how honoured I was to see him properly. My knees felt very weak all of a sudden.  
  
"Hey, haven't we met before?" he frowned slightly.  
  
My mouth worked like a fish for a moment before I summoned my voice. "Uh - yeah! Remember? You ran into me one night on thirty second street?"  
  
"No - you ran into me." He retaliated quickly.  
  
I eyed his wake and saw the path of destruction he'd left behind him... smashed glasses, fallen trays, stained dresses... "No... I think you were the clumsy one there..."  
  
"So what are you doing here?" he asked, slyly kicking the smashed pieces of his former plate under the table before anyone else spotted the mess.  
  
"I was invited with my family." I told him with a smiled before sticking out my hand. "Kagome."  
  
"Inuyasha." He took my hand.  
  
I stiffened slightly in the joints. "Inuyasha? Is that your real name?"  
  
"Probably." He replied.  
  
Inuyasha... it sounded like an Arashi name... in fact I don't think there is a more Arashi like name than that considering they are all dog demons. But I reminded myself again that he couldn't be an Arashi. The only think that would link him to them would be his hair and his eyes. All Arashi's had 'elfy' ears, as my younger brother liked to say. This guy didn't... so he couldn't possibly be one of them. Besides, he hadn't arrived with them either.  
  
"Wanna catch a drink?" he offered, jerking his head in the direction of the bar.  
  
"Sure... as long as you're not throwing it." I smiled placidly and followed him around the edge of the crowds that were starting to assemble around the edges of the dance floor.  
  
That's when I spotted Sango. She was giving the dark haired boy she was talking to a rather flat look as though she was either bored or annoyed. But I knew while her expression said one thing, her body language said another. Sango may have looked irritated, but by the way she was wringing her hands behind her back and out of sight, I knew she was nervous. With good reason... the boy she was talking to was Miroku - I recognised him from my little spying mission the other night... he wasn't half bad looking from the front either.  
  
"You noticed Miroku?" Inuyasha had noticed my stare. "You met before?"  
  
"Very briefly... wasn't what you'd call pleasant." I said, quickly snapping my attention back to my own little demon.  
  
"Good, I was worried you actually felt something for that slut."  
  
"You know him too?" now that was an interesting turn.  
  
"Yep... old pals." He wrinkled his nose with a smile, he stopped by the bar and took one of the drinks off the counter. "Here's your drink."  
  
"Thanks." Was I blushing too much? Did I look like an idiot? Was my hair still neat? Was I being too obvious?  
  
I turned my eyes to the ground as I took a small sip before looking up at the sound of someone calling my name.  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
It was Kouga again.  
  
I gave a tiny whine and tried to hunch behind Inuyasha to hide me, but I was a bit late for that. "What?" Inuyasha frowned.  
  
"Oh god... hide me." I sighed, rolling my eyes discreetly as Kouga reached me.  
  
"Where've you been? I thought you were going to get more food."  
  
"Been and eaten." I said with that chipper voice my dad had told me to use. "Now I'm full."  
  
"Great - now you can come and dance." He reached a hand out to me.  
  
"Uh... Kouga... I..." I struggled to come up with some kind of excuse, but my head was a bit woolly right then. I think it's because I was in the presence of a really hot guy (and by that I mean Inuyasha - NOT Kouga).  
  
"You'll have to wait your turn." Inuyasha came to my rescue and shot Kouga a patronising smirk. "Sorry."  
  
"Ok... I'll just wait here." He glowered back at Inuyasha.  
  
I looked between the two of them, biting my cheek. Two guys fighting over me... ish... well, that was new. Then I realised Kouga was waiting for us to leave and return again... but I wasn't so sure that was going to happen any time soon.  
  
I was just opening my mouth to come up with a wonderful new excuse why not to dance with Kouga (involving contracting blisters from eating too much) when Inuyasha grabbed my wrist and tugged me towards the dance floor. I spluttered with shock but I didn't have the will to stop him. Finally he drew to a stop inside the midst of dancing couples.  
  
"What are you doing?" I asked in a high tone, looking around nervously.  
  
"Dancing. It's what you wanted, right?" he asked.  
  
"Uh..." Yes... but I was so embarrassed to admit that straight out.  
  
"You want to get away from that Kouga thing." Inuyasha darted a glare back in Kouga's direction. "Best make the most of it."  
  
"Hey klutz - you'll step on my feet!" I protested urgently. Why was I trying to back out? I don't know... because there was nothing more I wanted right then but to stand close to this complete stranger.  
  
"I won't, I promise." He touched his hands to my shoulders and was about to step closer when my breath hitched and the music stopped.  
  
"Oh, what a shame." He suddenly stepped back and grinned. "Better be off then and you can have the next dance with Kouga."  
  
"Wait!" I grabbed his arm and dragged him back, half ashamed of myself because I'd only done that to feel the firm muscles underneath my hands. "We can have the next dance."  
  
He looked at me before grinning at me. "Just wanted to hear it from your own lips."  
  
My face was feeling very hot right then, and I was certain that I was blushing so hard I was like a neon red light flashing in the middle of the room. Well... I only thought that because there were quite a lot of people turning to look at me and Inuyasha, I must have been emitting some sort of glow.  
  
The music started again, slower than the last piece, much to my horror - but all that worry and self-consciousness flew out of my mind when Inuyasha's arm slipped around my waist. I thought my heart was going to stop... and I think it did for a few seconds.  
  
He didn't step on my feet, though for a while I wish he would so that I could get a good excuse to stop and leave. I wasn't sure I particularly liked this swelling feeling in my chest, even though it didn't feel all that bad.  
  
Feeling the need to find something to break the trance like silence between them, I glanced off to the side and spotted my father still chatting away with Mr Arashi. I couldn't lip read, but by their expressions she could see that their conversation was becoming strained. "Those lot..." she muttered.  
  
"The Higurashi's?" he quirked an eyebrow over by the two families.  
  
"And the Arashi's..." I sighed. "They're so obvious... they just hate each other..."  
  
"They look like they're getting along fine." He commented. But I didn't expect him to understand the full extent of our family feud.  
  
"For the press." I replied wearily, flexing my fingers idly against his shoulders. I returned my gaze to his chin. When I briefly flicked my eyes up to meet his I noticed he was looking at me strangely and I tried to avert my gaze again, but somehow my eyes had stopped obeying.  
  
I was finally beginning to see the reason in all the cheesy romance novels about the eye contact thing. I wasn't sure he was exactly seeing right through my eyes into my soul... but I wasn't entirely sure he wasn't either. This eye contact seemed more close and intimate than being physically close to anyone. I could have been standing on the opposite side of the ballroom, locking gazes with him, and my heart would still be racing like it was right then. It really sounded cheesy in my head, but my mind suddenly stopped working after a few moments and all I could think about was how beautiful his eyes were...  
  
The sounds around me faded into a blur and for a fraction of a moment I think I went deaf... until there was a blinding flash of light and reality slammed back down on me. I blinked and tore my eyes away from Inuyasha to turn and see the reporters cameras were now all turned on me and Inuyasha.  
  
Why?  
  
I had no idea.  
  
"Kagome!" Sango suddenly shrieked and dived at me, my hands were ripped off Inuyasha's shoulders while the boy named Miroku forcibly stepped between us, back to me and shoving Inuyasha back off into the crowd.  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Come on!" Sango grasped my elbow, rougher than usual and dragged me off into the opposite side of the crowd. I caught sight of her expression... and for some reason she looked angry.  
  
"Sango - what-"  
  
"I leave you alone for five minutes and what do I find you doing?!" she snapped, whirling on me. "What do you think you're playing at?!"  
  
I was speechless. Sango was chewing me out and I had idea why... "Sango..." I didn't understand. So I glanced over my shoulder desperately to see where Inuyasha had gone, after scanning the crowd for a few moments I saw him looking back at me from where Miroku was pushing him along and away. I was about to call out when Sango grabbed my chin and pulled my face back around.  
  
"Stop it." She hissed shortly. "You can't do this to us!"  
  
"Do what?" I croaked, my voice filling with emotion I was having trouble containing. I'd just been swept off my feet by a strange and a few seconds later Sango was yelling at me. "God - are you TRYING to sound like my mother!"  
  
"I'm looking out for you!" Sango growled before her eyes suddenly softened and she sagged slightly. With a weak smile she continued. "Listen... just don't do that again. I know you're mad at your dad for putting you down, but that's no reason to jeopardise his chances in the election."  
  
I was really confused now. "What?"  
  
"Stay away from Inuyasha." She didn't elaborate further before relaxing completely and squeezing my shoulder. "Come on, I think Kouga's waiting for his turn to dance with you."  
  
I didn't want to dance with Kouga... I just wanted to leave... or go back to dancing with Inuyasha, but I doubted Sango would let me do that...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
"What's the big idea?!" I threw Miroku's hands off me and glared at him angrily. He'd better have a good reason for just breaking me up with Kagome...  
  
"Do you have any idea, what you're doing?" Miroku said calmly, but I could see he was edging on livid. And there weren't many things in this world that could make Miroku lose it... one of those things had been an annoying little green smudge called Jacken... but Miroku was pretty cool-headed about everything.  
  
"It's none of your business!" I snarled.  
  
"Oh, but it is!" he clenched his fists, valiantly managing to keep a straight face. At times like this I just wanted to punch him to see if that mask could slip. Why did he always have to be the voice of reason?  
  
"Bull!"  
  
"Do you know who that is?" he demanded, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards Kagome who seemed to be looking distressed while she talked to that girl, Sango. They seemed to know each other...  
  
"Kagome."  
  
"Kagome who?"  
  
"I don't know - but I would if you hadn't split us up!" I ground out. I'd been enjoying myself, right up until the point the cameras had flashed. She'd had the most beautiful blue eyes... and when she'd leaned against me I really could have sworn my heart swelled... or the feeling that I feel in my chest did something funny that I can't really put into words...  
  
"Inuyasha?!" Miroku clapped his hands in front of my eyes, and I realised I'd been staring off into space.  
  
"What?!"  
  
He gave me a hard look before shaking his head as if in pity. That just annoyed me further... I felt like I'd just missed a vital part of what was going on. "You didn't know did you?" he sighed.  
  
"Know WHAT?!" I all but spat.  
  
"THAT was Kagome HIGURASHI!" he shook his head angrily. "You were just dancing with the enemy's daughter!"  
  
My mouth opened to say something scathing, but my brain had just frozen on the 'Higurashi' part. "She's... a Higurashi..."  
  
"Yeah..." Miroku sighed.  
  
Why hadn't I noticed before? Black hair, blue eyes... just like her father. Pretty, almost exactly like her mother. I must have been blind.  
  
"You were looking at her like you... like you were..." Miroku couldn't find the words so he just gave up. "You'll be on the front page by Sunday... I have no idea how this is going to affect the campaign for your father."  
  
I glanced past him to see my entire family were shooting rather acidic glares at me, like I was a traitor. I turned my gaze back to the dance floor and saw Kagome was now dancing with Kouga, in an even slower dance than the one we'd been dancing. She'd been forced to allow him to hold her close... though I had no way of telling if she was willing to this. It was the last song... the last songs were always the romantic slow ones...  
  
"Sorry, Inuyasha..." Miroku sounded sincere, but I shrugged him off.  
  
Kagome's gaze flickered to mine and she smiled weakly before Kouga turned her another way.  
  
I had to get out of there...  
  
"I'm going to work." I said shortly.  
  
"I understand." Miroku said quickly.  
  
No... I don't think he did...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: that'll probably be the last chapter I'll manage of this one... sorry ^_^;; 


	4. Inuyasha's Job

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha, and everyone who reads this knows that... so I can't be bothered writing this anymore.  
  
AN: Well, since people have asked somewhat nicely (if not forcefully) I've decided to try and get a few more chapters out. My exams are over (and the results are back ¬_¬ wasn't good), my relatives have gone back to their caves in the mountain after having explored Manchester and now I have a tone of free time on my hands ^_^ I don't feel so stressed anymore and that writer's block is fading and my interest in this fic has increased thanks to the reviews that encouraged me ^_^  
  
Thank you!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
Inuyasha's Job  
  
(i.e. His Shame)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
It had been an eventful morning, to say the least. My cousins weren't speaking to me, my father was continuously glaring at me over the breakfast table and my mother had been going about chucking all the morning newspapers into the bin before she'd read them, which was a new activity.  
  
And I had no idea what was wrong...  
  
It was about ten o'clock when the phone rang and dad went to answer it, then mom came bustling downstairs wearing her three piece business suit and bearing a rather strong perfume smell that made me cough as she walked by.  
  
She suddenly stopped and snapped her fingers before turning back to me. "Kagome - I have to go to work in three hours - and I'm just taking Souta to the hospital to have his cast removed - but I don't think that I'll be able to bring him back - so could you go fetch him at one o'clock?"  
  
I chewed my toast thoughtfully before nodding. "Ok." It was about damn time that cast came off Souta's leg - he'd been hobbling around the house like a new-born calf on its first legs. He'd tripped over so many times there was a dent in the wooden floor outside his bedroom door - it would be a relief for him to finally be free.  
  
My mother quickly hurried off again just as dad slammed the phone down. "Pick up your brother after you do this one little thing for me."  
  
I stopped chewing and gave him such a flat look, trying to broadcast my negative feelings. But he didn't seem to be receiving them. "I want you to go to Giiza and check out the auction house - my source just said that the Shikon jewel is being auctioned there in half an hour."  
  
That got my attention and I hastily swallowed my food to speak. "Half an hour?! Why can't Sango go ?!"  
  
"I don't have time to go look for her and it could be sold by the time she gets her lazy ass down there - you have to go instead." He walked off, and I realised that he wasn't leaving this topic open for discussion.  
  
Well I had two choices.  
  
Either ignore his wishes and carry on eating toast until one o'clock (a heck of a long time to eat toast) and then get reprimanded by everyone in the household for failing to retrieve the Shikon no Tama.  
  
Or I could just go and get it done really fast so I would be in time to pick up Souta... then when I got back I would be the family favourite again and maybe they'd all forgive me for whatever I had done wrong in the first place.  
  
Well, I didn't really have that much choice after all. So I got up with a sigh and went to fetch my coat and shoes.  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^  
  
  
  
  
  
The Auction house in Giiza was surprisingly difficult to find - even though it was one of largest buildings in the precinct. It was one of the oldest as well... and everything inside it seemed old... AND crowded. It took my nearly half an hour just to find the room where the Shikon was being held for auction - and then I was disappointed.  
  
It was a complete fake.  
  
Maybe it wasn't so obvious to other people though... because the auction was still going and the price was rising higher... The person selling that fake would be rich beyond their wildest dreams.  
  
So, after that spectacular waste of time and effort I looked at my watch and sighed. I still had two hours or so before I had to go pick Souta up from hospital... and in the mean time, I didn't really have anywhere to go.  
  
I made a mental note to try and throttle my father later, as I slowly mooched down the corridor of the auction house, making my way to... well... I don't know where. I was just eating up my time walking.  
  
Then I spotted him.  
  
Suddenly it felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been dunked over my head... while at the same time, warm fluffy butterflies fluttered through my stomach. I was in trouble...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
"I really don't think our source is reliable." I remarked idly as we walked towards the Auction house with a portion of chips each.  
  
"What do you mean?" Miroku frowned. "What's so unreliable about ketchup?"  
  
I glared at him briefly before flicking a chip into my mouth. "I meant Jacken... the little fig that sells us the information. I don't trust him... he's slimy..."  
  
"He's supposed to be, he's a toad."  
  
"You know what I mean. I heard somewhere that he sells secrets to the Higurashi's too."  
  
"Well that would explain why they always end up in the same places as us." Miroku dumped his empty portion in a nearby bin. "Anyway, we can't stop him, it isn't like we have exclusive rights to his information. He can sell it to whoever he wants."  
  
"Can we still beat the crap out of him after work?" I asked hopefully as we entered the building.  
  
"Nothing to stop us doing that either." Miroku smirked and a wandering hand for me few remaining chips.  
  
"Hey!" I quickly yanked it away. "You just had a whole portion! No freebies!"  
  
"Jeez, could you be any tighter." Miroku looked up ahead and his eyes widened. "Oh dear... look... there's Kagome..."  
  
"I'm not falling for that one." I sneered, deliberately not looking to make sure he didn't nick my last chips.  
  
"No - look - I'm serious."  
  
Well, he looked serious, so I did steal myself a quick look... and I think my heart jumped into my throat when I saw her slowly heading our way down the main corridor. It only took her a few seconds to notice my gaze, and she stopped very suddenly, and looked like she'd just had a bucket of water dumped over her head.  
  
"Uh... Miroku?" I looked back at him to see he was discreetly chewing something... I didn't need to look at the portion in my hand to know he'd snarfed my last few chips anyway. "I think Jacken's been selling secrets to the Higurashi's before us again..."  
  
She was coming towards us with that award winning smile that seemed to brighten the atmosphere around the corridor at once... though I think that was just me. I felt Miroku nudge me in the side to get my attention. "You keep her busy and I'll go find the Shikon."  
  
I barely nodded in understanding, mostly because I was too distracted by Kagome.  
  
"Hey, stranger!" she greeted cheerfully.  
  
"Hey yourself. What are you doing here?" I had to know.  
  
"Oh you know... shopping..." she waved a hand vaguely. "My dad wanted me to pick up something for him... but I can't remember the name..."  
  
Maybe she was an innocent in this after all. Perhaps she hadn't been acting on orders to get the Shikon like me and Miroku were.  
  
"Do excuse me, Kagome, I have to go and get me and Inuyasha's lunch from MacDonalds." Miroku smiled placidly.  
  
For some reason Kagome didn't return the smile... if anything, she glared at him. It certainly looked like she'd met him before after all...  
  
Miroku walked past Kagome, and I caught the brief, but rather meaningful look he shot me behind her back. I knew what he was trying to say... something along the lines of 'don't you dare do anything I would do while I'm gone'... thank god I don't really listen to Miroku much these days.  
  
Fortunately Kagome didn't seem to notice that Miroku wasn't heading towards the exit to get that lunch he'd spoken about.  
  
"Listen... about last night at the ball..." Kagome began with a sheepish little smile. "I'm sorry for Sango barging in like that... she's just... protective of me..."  
  
"Miroku did the same." I shrugged and smiled lightly. "It was nice while it lasted."  
  
"Yeah..." a faint blush tinged her cheeks pink, just like the dozens of times she'd blushed last night. "Thank you for saving me from Kouga like that..."  
  
"Well, I tried my best. It didn't really work out since you ended up dancing with that moron anyway."  
  
"And it was the last dance of the night..." she wrinkled her nose. "Dancing the slow romantic dance with that guy was not on my wish list."  
  
"You were on mine."  
  
She looked up at me suddenly, with a slightly startled expression like I'd just gone 'boo!' or something. But she quickly covered her surprise with a smile. "You like to say what you think don't you?"  
  
"Do I?"  
  
"Yes." She grinned. "No beating around the bush for you, is there."  
  
"No point," I shrugged and moved over to lean against the nearby wall. I didn't take my eyes off her... I don't think I could have even if I had wanted to.  
  
"You're a good dancer by the way." She commented conversationally. "Where'd you learn?"  
  
"Tap dance classes."  
  
She laughed at that, a light breathy laugh, not a twittering little giggle that most girls had, and it sounded just as beautiful as her voice. She must have been a Higurashi... otherwise I don't think I would have fallen into her spell...  
  
"Did you know you have really pretty eyes?" I asked, making her lock gazes with me again, giving me a good view of the items I had just mentioned. She was still smiling though.  
  
"Wow - you really DO say whatever is in your head." It might not have been a conscious movement, but she stepped closer and rested her hand lightly on the edge of my open jacket. "This is amazing... it feels weird to say... but are you sure we haven't met before we bumped into each other?"  
  
"Pretty sure... why?" she was standing pretty close now.  
  
"I just feel like I've met you before." She smiled widely. "Have you ever met someone before that you just like... click with?"  
  
"No..."  
  
She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Not until last night." I grinned and suddenly slipped my hand around the hand that held my jacket. She made that cute little surprised start again and looked down at our joined hands again. I could feel the pulse start to speed up slightly in her fingers.  
  
She was adorable...  
  
"Um..." she stumbled for her words as a much larger flush or pink passed over her cheeks. "This is... all very fast..."  
  
I moved our hands to rest over my heart and she followed them with her eyes. "So's this..." I said gently, meaning my heart.  
  
The smile slowly faded from her face, and I felt her press her hand against my chest, feeling the rhythm underneath the ribs picking up.  
  
"Hey guys."  
  
Kagome jerked her hand away so guiltily and cleared her throat as she turned away. I narrowed a glare at the approaching Miroku... I was sincere enough to say that I seriously wanted to shoot him just then. But I had to say my face was feeling a little warm as well.  
  
"Brought you a cheeseburger." Miroku dumped one of the burgers he was carrying into my hands (I think, so my hands would be busy) and tucked into his own.  
  
Kagome wrinkled a nose at us. "How can you eat that stuff? There's like five different cows in those burgers."  
  
We chewed happily anyway.  
  
"They probably all lived in horrible cramped conditions, squashed together side by side... shipped over from the states in dinky little ships..." she continued.  
  
Miroku's chewing was slowing down somewhat. I carried on munching, unaffected. Too bad Miroku had bigger ethics than me.  
  
"Then when they get here they get a bolt in the head..." she stared at us both in a rather penetrating way. "Blood everywhere... their last moos rattling the metal stands around them..."  
  
Miroku had stopped chewing all together... what a wuss.  
  
"And then there are all those cows that get infected - those get tossed into a big furnace - but the others go to the slaughter house and get minced together..." she pulled a face.  
  
"Alright - that's enough." Miroku all but threw the remains of his burger at me. I caught it deftly, (still trying to prove I ain't a klutz), and smirked as I continued to eat.  
  
"What's with him?" Kagome raised an eyebrow at me as she leaned to whisper to Miroku.  
  
"Oh him? He can stomach gross talk - he's been working in m-"  
  
For no apparent reason my elbow shot out and stabbed him in the stomach. He gasped and nearly doubled over. "Oh... sorry Miroku... didn't see you there..."  
  
"What?" Kagome perked up. "Working where?"  
  
I glanced at Miroku and he glanced at me warily. It was him that came up with the perfect excuse. "Um... MacDonalds... he worked in MacDonalds... he could probably eat those cows raw..."  
  
"Lovely imagery." She commented.  
  
All this talk about work got me thinking, and I looked down at my watch suddenly. "Holy cow - I'm late!"  
  
"No pun intended there." Miroku snickered.  
  
"Listen - I gotta go, Kagome - see you around some time?"  
  
"Sure." She smiled happily, while Miroku made throat cutting gestures behind her back again.  
  
"Great - come on Miroku!" I grabbed him as I dragged him and the burgers out of the Auction house... though I couldn't help feeling that I was leaving behind something important.  
  
I stopped and dumped the burgers in the bin so I could talk. "Where is it? Where's the Shikon?"  
  
"Not here." Miroku shrugged. "I found it - but it's a fake I think. It fetched a nice price though..."  
  
I growled in frustration and I saw Miroku step back out of range of my hands. "Ok... go back home and tell Dad what happened... tell him I went straight to work."  
  
"Oh goodie. I get to tell him two bad bits of news. He won't like you going to work."  
  
"Whatever - just make sure you beat up Jacken anyway."  
  
"Oh - THAT I can do!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
I mostly spent the next two hours walking around in daze. He liked me... I wasn't imagining things. He was being very blunt and open about it... and it had kinda sent me for a loop... but I knew he liked me (in a more than like way) and the feelings were way more than mutual.  
  
I did eventually remember that I had a younger brother that I was supposed to take care of - and I all but legged it to the hospital when I did remember. I arrived at the hospital entrance, just as my mother came bustling out of the revolving doors.  
  
"Ah - Kagome!" she saw me and lunged at me. If I hadn't seen her before hand I would have been scared out of my wits. "Souta's in ward seven - I have to run to work now - love you - bye!"  
  
"B... Bye..." I echoed wittily as she scurried away.  
  
I looked at my watch again and sighed in wonder. I'd spent the last two hours wandering around Higashi with that love struck puppy love expression that teenage girls usually hold for their pop idols. Boy... time really did fly when you were thinking fuzzy thoughts.  
  
Ward seven was empty - all except for my younger brother who was hobbling around the floor with his cast still on. "Hey, Souta."  
  
"About time - you're ten minutes late!" he told me - but he didn't seem too upset about it.  
  
"I know... I got side-tracked," Big time.  
  
"That's ok - the doctors are running late. Me and mum have been waiting for ages for them to come and take the cast off... they said they'd be sending one of the nurses instead." He hobbled over to slide back onto the bed. I ruffled his hair with a grin - mostly because I felt like I was in an amazingly happy mood.  
  
"You..." I gave his head a light push. "You probably only broke your leg to flirt with the nurses here."  
  
He was about to answer when a rather masculine voice sounded. "I hope not... otherwise I'd be extremely worried about him..."  
  
My head snapped up and I found myself staring at Inuyasha. He suddenly seemed to recognise me... "Oh... dear..."  
  
I opened my mouth to speak... but once again I couldn't find the words. He wasn't a doctor... he was a nurse... in dark red smocks... I was just on the verge of laughing if I hadn't noticed his name tag pined to the dark red shirt that went on over the dark blue one that I'd seen him wear earlier.  
  
"Inuyasha Arashi..."  
  
My heart broke.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: I have to say quickly - I actually came up with this plot idea before I even thought about making 28 Days. In fact Inuyasha the Doctor was actually devised from this... but me being me - I made the second idea develop faster than the first...  
  
Well, the next chapter should be out soon (I hope) as long as I don't get bored with it again and run off to do other things. ^_^ 


	5. Who Are You Really?

AN: Yep, I'm still going at it with a hacksaw!  
  
Oh - and BTW - 'smocks' is the name my dad uses (he's a doctor) when talking about the makeshift top and bottoms that nurses and surgeons usually wear on top of their normal clothes for work (usually to keep off the blood splatters @_@). I don't know if this is the official word because my dad isn't really very formal about his work. Smocks are the plain coloured clothes, green for surgeons, blue for doctors, usually pink/red for nurses (?) I think.  
  
And don't worry people - I'm not doing Romeo and Juliet tragedy in this. I'm just saying that the situation with the two families is like the Shakespeare play... but it won't turn out the same way............... or will it?  
  
Only messing ! - on with the story!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
Who Are You Really?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
Kagome was mad. I could so tell.  
  
My main worry when I had seen her standing there was that she would see me dressed up like little red riding hood. But that fear dissipated the moment her eyes fixed on my name tag... and she knew my real name.  
  
"Inuyasha Arashi..." she echoed my name. For some reason it sounded like poison in her mouth and she had a rather stupefied expression on her face.  
  
I really should have checked the surname of the patient before I'd come in...  
  
Then, who I assumed was her kid brother looked up at me and grinned. "Hey - you're that guy that's on all the front pages of the newspapers!"  
  
"What?" Me and Kagome didn't tear our eyes away from each other. I wanted to know her real reaction to this... I couldn't take my eyes away... but I hated seeing the hurt she held.  
  
"You know - at the ball." The little brother chided. "You two were dancing together and you both made front page in the press. I'm guessing that's because you're an Arashi, huh?"  
  
He was a Higurashi too... but I guess he was too young to hold similar hate to the rest of his family for mine.  
  
A whole new expression crossed Kagome's face. She looked like she'd been punched in the gut, very hard, and she gaped at me slightly with a look of betrayal. I had known all along... and I think the guilt was plain in my expression as well.  
  
"Mom threw all the papers away for a reason then, I guess." The brother swung his good leg with a bored fashion. "Hello? I came to get my cast removed at some point today."  
  
"Right..." I shook myself out of my stupor, as I saw Kagome do the same. She somehow attained a rather pensive and closed expression... but it showed me enough to let me know she was mad... extremely mad...  
  
Her fists were clenched at her sides and her teeth were grinding together... but I think she was holding it all inside while her brother was still in our presence. I didn't look forward to the moment we would be alone again.  
  
I had to really concentrate on not chopping the kids leg off with the little razor blade I was using to crack open the cast. My mind kept wondering off to Kagome, and every time I glanced up at her, she was watching me like a hawk... probably waiting for me to chop her little brother up deliberately, just because my last name was Arashi.  
  
As if I was that petty.  
  
When I was finally done, the kid stood up experimentally and turned in a circle. "Good as new?" I asked.  
  
"Sort of... it feels funny..." he jumped a little before grinning. "I can walk! It's a miracle!"  
  
"Why don't you go run around the hospital, Souta, and get into the swing of things again?" Kagome suddenly asked. "I'll wait for you here."  
  
"Ok - toodles!" Souta darted off through the door.  
  
Kagome slowly turned back to me... and I could really see for once how livid she really was. I gulped when she fixed me with the stoniest look imaginable.  
  
God... she was so beautiful when she was angry...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
I still couldn't quite find the words to describe how I was feeling just then. But good variations of how I felt ran through my head.  
  
Betrayed... Hurt... Duped... Fooled... Embarrassed... Angry... Weak... Like I wanted to cry... like I wanted to scream and hurt someone. I fixed my glare on Inuyasha and saw him gulp... I was glad... how DARE he think he could fool me and get away with it.  
  
"I bet you think this is really funny, don't you?!" I hissed, my clenched fists trembling. "Let's mess with the little Higurashi's heart and then laugh behind her back!"  
  
"Hey! It wasn't like you told me you were Higurashi to begin with either!" he shot back.  
  
"Did I really need to?! It was obvious enough!" everyone who met me always reckoned I was Higurashi because of my looks... even total strangers who'd only ever seen my father and mother on TV.  
  
"Yeah well - it was kinda obvious that I was Arashi!" Inuyasha tugged on one of the locks that hung forward, the rest had been tied back. "How can you miss this rat's nest?!"  
  
"I'm a bit slow! So sue me!" I yelled. I'd never really taken being betrayed very well I guess. "But you KNEW! You KNEW I was Higurashi and you pulled me along on a string!"  
  
"I didn't at first!" he yelled back. "Then Miroku told me - but I didn't want to give you up just because of who your dad is! I didn't tell you I was Arashi because THIS is exactly how I knew you would react!"  
  
"You don't know me!" I stomped up to him and poked him in the chest with a finger. "I barely know you actually!"  
  
"That wasn't what you were saying earlier-"  
  
"I thought you were decent earlier!" I snapped. "But I guess you finally decided to show your true colours!"  
  
"What true colours?!" he growled. "You hear the word Arashi and you blow up like a volcano! Jeez... your dad really brainwashed you didn't he?"  
  
"Leave my father out of this!" he didn't know him, he had no right to speak ill of him. "This is between me and you!"  
  
"Exactly - so why should anything else matter?" he glared heatedly at me. "Just because my dad's a git and your dad is a git and they both hate each other... that doesn't mean that I personally hate you too! I didn't even know you when I met you - how could I hate you and want to trick you?!"  
  
He had an amazingly strong point. But my anger and pride were getting the better of me. I wanted to trust him and believe him... I DID trust and believe him... but the fact that he'd managed to fool me was a thorn in my side. It wasn't a matter of family names anymore.  
  
"My family hates me because of you!" I hissed. "One dance with an Arashi and they all think I've turned traitor on them!"  
  
"You think my family haven't done the same to me?!" Inuyasha growled. "They hate me enough as it is because my mother was human, they hate me even more because I'm a male nurse - a wussy profession - and this is the final straw on the camels back! They want my blood because I was seen talking with a Higurashi."  
  
I struggled for words, but my anger was still there. "You should have told me! I didn't need to find out like this - you could have told me and I would have accepted it!"  
  
"Are you accepting the fact that I'm an Arashi now?" he snapped. "I think not!"  
  
"I am! I'm just angry that you confused me into thinking you were somebody else!"  
  
We glared heatedly at each other f0r several seconds, somehow managing to work so close together that our breath practically mingled. Suddenly the sounds of the hospital working in the background faded and all I could actually focus on was his lips.  
  
It was never supposed to happen this way. My first kiss was supposed to be sweet and tender in a dimly lit setting with candles and nice smells and Barry White music in the background. Here everything smelled of disinfectant, the candles were florescent light tubes that flickered annoying above our heads, and the Barry White music could have been the toddlers bawling their heads off down the hall in the children's' ward. And the kiss wasn't sweet - it was more like TAKE WHAT YOU CAN BEFORE SOMEBODY COMES!  
  
It must have been that animal attraction that you hear so much about. Because it was instantaneous. One moment we were standing inches apart, yelling and arguing like two lions - and then the next there was scarcely an inch to spare between us... and well... I guess we were devouring each other... like lions...  
  
Our control must have snapped at the exact same moment as we all but lunged at each other and our mouths fastened together. My hands went to twine behind his neck while his roamed up and down my back, pressing me closer, if that was at all possible. I had to swallow my moan as his mouth moved against mine, asking no permission when his tongue thrust forward. He was just lucky I responded in kind.  
  
I thought I would just die from the sheer pleasure of being this close to him... being able to run my hands through his silky locks (that were fast coming loose from its tie). It was something entirely new and wonderful, I didn't want it to stop... but on some unconscious level I knew that it was going to have to. But even more importantly... I felt like I had just found my reason to be alive.  
  
It felt so good to have his hands running over my arms, shoulder, back, and lodging in my hair to control the kiss more to his taste. I just let him do it because it felt good no matter what he did. I normally hated it when people invaded my personal space... I'd always get nervous if people got too close... but that didn't seem to matter with Inuyasha. He didn't make me nervous... no... he just made me angry.  
  
The sheet intensity of what was happening was making me dizzy, and I grappled with his shoulders in an effort to feel more of him at once. It was so passionate and fast, but I knew that it had to be because we weren't going to get many chances to act like this...  
  
I don't know what had made me act this way to begin with.  
  
But we both jumped away like guilty little lions when Souta came in and coughed loudly. "Ew..."  
  
My face flamed into heat and I suddenly bowed my head to become rather deeply involved in fiddling with the hem of my jacket. Inuyasha just stood there scratching his head and looking the other way.  
  
Oh yeah... we were naturals at this.  
  
"If it's not too much trouble, Kag, I wanna go home now." Souta pulled a disgusted look, though I knew he was forcing it because he looked like he was going to crack up with mirth at any moment.  
  
"Er... ok..." I said dazedly, absently touching my lips to get the feeling back in them. I suddenly remembered something as I looked back at Inuyasha. "Don't think I'm not still mad at you - cause I am!"  
  
"Yeah, sure you are Kagome." Souta smirked as I grabbed his hands and led him off down the corridor.  
  
"Shut up." I hissed, flushing red again.  
  
I think this was going to be the first in a long series of blushes.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
I was confused.  
  
We'd kissed and she hadn't pulled away at all... she'd even moaned - I heard her! My ears were NOT playing tricks on me! So we'd kissed, she'd moaned, we'd jumped away and then she had the gall to say she was still mad at me?  
  
What did she want from me?!  
  
At first I was sorely tempted to go chase after her and try and persuade her to like me again with another kiss. And if that didn't work - third time's a charm. But then I realised that I hadn't finished my shift yet - though my hour break was coming up soon so I'd probably go see her then.  
  
How would I know where she was? Well... let's just say I know more about her than she gives me credit for...  
  
I wouldn't say that I was worried about going to see her... but I was distracted for the rest of the day, nearly screwing up a few dozen routine things and almost getting myself fired because my mind wasn't down on earth. Dad would be so proud of me.  
  
But when my break finally came I dumped my uniform in my locker and all but bolted out of there in a mad dash to get to the library and back so I wouldn't be late for my second shift. Fortunately the district library wasn't far from the district hospital, and I was there in a matter of minutes. Though the library was a big place and it took me a while to actually find her.  
  
When I did find her she was sat on the floor lost in the rows of book stacks. A person could probably sit back there all day and not meet anyone. I think that's what Kagome had in mind... and she did not look pleased when she saw me. "What did you do - follow me to work?!"  
  
"Nah, I already knew you did book-keeping here." I shrugged and glanced down at the book she had been reading. "I came to ask why you're still mad at me."  
  
"Ok then. Ask away."  
  
"Why are you still mad at me?" I frowned. "I mean... it's not like I publicly humiliated you or anything-"  
  
She interrupted me with a loud cough and pointed to the newspaper that was lying on the floor beside her. He peered down at it and cocked my head. The front page picture was of me and her... looking into each others eyes each with an expression I didn't like to name. It was too cheesy. But in a way it made me feel warm inside. She'd looked at me like I was all she saw... that was a nice feeling...  
  
"'HigArashi'!" Kagome read the head line to me before tossing the paper at me. "Of course you didn't publicly humiliate me at all!"  
  
"You're embarrassed by this?" I dropped it down to the ground again. She glanced at it briefly before blushing slightly and looking away.  
  
"Not... not because of the picture... it's just that everyone thinks I'm some kind of slut..."  
  
"Well everyone thinks I'm a slut too." I tried to even the deal.  
  
She gave me a dry look. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing for a guy to say about himself. Higurashi and Arashi don't mix - everyone knows we hate each other - It's scandal to both our families but it's the kind of thing the media drool about."  
  
I sighed, before getting an idea. I decided the bait her. "Well... if it's dynamite in our hands maybe we should just forget it. Let's never see each other again - and if we do we should fight and call each other names and stuff. The press will drop the story after a while thinking that we were just dancing for the pictures."  
  
Kagome paled slightly, I could almost see the cogs turning in her head. "But... I don't want..." she lapsed into silence.  
  
"Don't want what?" I pressed, crouching down beside her.  
  
"To just end it..." she frowned to herself, like she was saying something she shouldn't. "It's so soon... why should we be forced to call it off just because of what people think."  
  
I suddenly smiled. "That's what I've been trying to say, you stubborn girl."  
  
"I guess..." she sighed. Obviously put out about everything, but at least she didn't seem so mad at me anymore.  
  
I reached a hand out and squeezed her shoulder compassionately, earning a smile from her. That smile did funny things to my heart that I didn't like to think about. I told myself that that I was just being compassionate (not a word I use in my vocabulary a lot), that I was just trying to make her feel better... but I guess I was only finding an excuse to touch her, even as innocently as that, and bring out a sweet smile.  
  
You give some you get some...  
  
Wait... am I starting to sound like Miroku?  
  
The moment was interrupted, of course, when a kid came bounding down the rows and started to climb the book stacks behind me. I rolled my eyes as I dropped my hand from her shoulder, but Kagome scowled with concern. "Hey, you shouldn't climb those things - it's not a climbing frame."  
  
Either he didn't hear her or was ignoring her. But ultimately it began to sway dangerously and began to tip. Kagome was on her feet in an eye blink. "Hey - watch out!"  
  
The boy yelled out as the stack began to fall - fall directly onto us as well. I reacted without thinking of the consequences, catching the boy in one hand by the scruff of his shirt as he fell, and catching the tend foot tall stack as it was about to do a good domino impression with the other stack beside us. The stack stopped short at a forty five degree angle, but all the books still fell out onto my head, not making me a particularly happy bunny.  
  
I raised the kid to eye level and gave him evils. "You better run." I warned him and the moment I released him he went scampering off. To climb other book shelves I didn't really care.  
  
It was then that I noticed that Kagome was staring at me with a look akin to horror on her face. I wondered what she was looking at until I realised that I was holding up two tones of bookcase metal and wood and lots of books on the shelves on the other side of the rack. Oops...  
  
"Ooh... my arm..." I quickly faked, pretending to strain under the weight. "Better call the fire brigade!"  
  
"You big faker!" she said in a high voice, "I thought you were a klutz!"  
  
A stray book flopped off the shelf above me and dropped onto my head. "I am." I told her earnestly.  
  
Kagome shook her head and pointed. "God... how strong are you...?"  
  
"Um..." I slowly pushed the shelf back up to its normal upright position. "I'm not sure... tried to measure it once but I broke the machine..."  
  
Kagome was looking a little faint, so I decided to start putting the books back without her help.  
  
"Kagome?" a voice called from close by. "What was that noise?"  
  
"Nothing!" Kagome called back quickly just as another girl who worked at the library came around the corner. She saw me, saw the mass destruction... my dishevelled appearance (and Kagome's) and blanched. Before we could say anything to her she ran off.  
  
I wonder what was going through her head...  
  
Kagome appeared by my side and began helping me stack the books away, her attention focused pointedly away from me. Just when I thought I'd upset her again and she was going to ignore me, she spoke.  
  
"You're not what you seem... are you?" she said softly as she put the books back and redoing the ones I put back so they were in alphabetical order. "You're not clumsy at all..."  
  
"And you're not as thick as I pegged you to be." I said, nodding at the way she somehow managed to work much faster than me at putting the books in order. Plus the book she'd been reading had been about physics of the brain... hm...  
  
"I'd like to get to know you better..." Kagome said, not looking at me, but I could clearly see she was blushing all over again. "Then maybe you'll stop giving me surprises like this."  
  
I couldn't express how happy I was to hear her say that. But I told myself to keep it cool...  
  
"Sure. We can meet up any time you like." I offered.  
  
"But we can't really do it in public... what if people see us?" she fretted, giving me a small frown.  
  
"Then... you wear your wig and I'll wear my Clark Kent glasses." I smirked.  
  
She smiled at that. "We'll think of something."  
  
I smiled because she'd smiled, before I noticed the time and I groaned. "Man... I gotta get back to work."  
  
I heard what sounded suspiciously like a snort and I gave her a suspicious look. "What?"  
  
"It's just... I never really imagined you could be a male nurse..." she grinned. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing! It's just... an Arashi helping people is beyond my understanding."  
  
"Yeah well... sometimes you have to at least try and repair some of the damage your family manages to inflict." I sighed and touched her cheek. "I'll see you around."  
  
I got up and left quickly, feeling a lot happier than before. It wasn't often I got that kind of feeling after talking to someone. But Kagome wasn't just anybody...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
I thought my heart would fly out of my chest when he kept nonchalantly touching me shoulder... my cheek. Did he know what he made me feel?  
  
He'd made me realise that being Higurashi and Arashi made no difference to him and it shouldn't have made a difference to me either. We just had to keep quiet about it and we'd be fine.  
  
I'd never felt this way around anyone before... he was worth the trouble... and I was pretty sure that maybe what I was feeling was love. Since I'd first spoken to him I must have thought about him at least once every sixty seconds. It didn't feel like a silly crush - I'd had those - and this was definitely more powerful.  
  
I felt safe saying I was in love. In my head at least. Maybe I wouldn't admit that out loud to anybody for a while. There was no one I could tell anyway, not Sango, not my family, not my other friends. The only person I could really tell would be Inuyasha himself... but I wasn't about to say anything until I got to know him better, or until I knew how he felt about me for sure.  
  
I sighed happily... just before realising he'd left me in the middle of a battle zone, about to have to clear it up all by myself. Oh well... that didn't matter now...  
  
I was in love.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: Yep - and there's still another chapter coming - so I won't be giving up on this one anymore. 


	6. Doppelganger

AN: I think this is where the action starts to pick up. But don't worry - it's still going to be fluffy romantics ^_^ But all stories need some butt kicking.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
Doppelganger  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
"Are you sure you're up to this?"  
  
"I'm fine. I'm just worried about you."  
  
"No... I meant you're arm." I glanced nervously at Miroku's still mummified limb. "Are you sure you can hold my weight? Don't want you to drop me or anything..."  
  
"Inuyasha I could probably dangling a car from this roof with just the one arm." I couldn't see his face properly behind the mask, but I could tell he was smirking. "You're pretty much of a lightweight anyway."  
  
"I don't know..." I still hesitated. "Maybe I should hold you while you go down?"  
  
"You really are scared I'll drop you, huh?"  
  
"Well... I just had a bad past experience with the Higurashi's roof... and I don't want to have to peel myself up from concrete a second time this week." I peered over the edge of the roof and narrowed my eyes. At least I didn't have vertigo... but the height was still a little unnerving. I didn't fancy throwing myself over the edge with nothing other than Miroku to steady my rope.  
  
I don't like Bungee-jumping.  
  
"Ok... I'll go down there first." Miroku nodded and started attaching the end of the rope through his belt. "When I get inside that window, you tie yourself to that ventilation shaft and you INCH your way down carefully, yeah?"  
  
No way was I doing it the wuss way. "Sure, ok."  
  
"Ok," he handed me the looped coils of rope that was attached to his belt and moved over to the edge. "Don't let go now."  
  
"Sure, ok."  
  
And with that he jumped backwards off the roof, holding the rope tightly in one hand. I gripped the rope tight as Miroku's weight nearly yanked me forward over the edge as well. It wasn't long before he planted his feet against the side of the building and began walking down, heading towards the one open window in the entire building.  
  
That was our way inside. And once inside we'd split up and search for the Shikon. Jacken had had new information that the business manager of this building had acquired the Shikon and was keeping it in his safe in his office. First we'd have to find his office and then we'd have to break into the safe. Hopefully it wouldn't be another fake...  
  
But it did make me wonder who on earth was making all these fake Shikon jewels? Whoever it was, was probably getting a lot of money for them. I was willing to bet it was a certain Grandpa Higurashi...  
  
Miroku was taking too long and I was getting bored of feeding him rope bit by bit. Ooh - he wasn't looking! Now was the perfect chance to give him the shock of his life.  
  
I let go of the rope completely.  
  
I grinned as I heard Miroku curse so loudly it echoed through the air as he fell. I grabbed the rope again and he slapped against the wall.  
  
"Not FUNNY Inuyasha!" He yelled up, clearly pissed off.  
  
I waved cheerfully at him, but I couldn't help but crack up. Although that had been a very loud yell from him... maybe it would have alerted the security guards inside? Who cared...  
  
Miroku started taking the small steps down again until he finally reached the window. I held him tight while peering over the edge to see his progress. He pushed the window open further and carefully positioned himself so he could slip inside the dark office within. A few moments passed and he'd disappeared from sight, but I could still feel his movements pulling on the rope.  
  
Then at last, the rope went slack and Miroku tossed his end out of the window, allowing me to pull it back up so I could use it. We had to go through this ordeal because we had forgotten to bring two ropes... we really needed to start attending those boy scout evenings again. The motto being: always be prepared.  
  
I whistled to myself as I finally gathered the rope up together and moved away from the edge to tie one end around an air conditioning vent. When I was sure it was secure I looped the rest of the rope through my belt and started walking backwards towards the edge, ready to abseil just as Miroku had just done.  
  
When I reached the edge I glanced over my shoulder to position myself direction above the window and jumped off. I didn't do the wimpy Miroku way either - I did jumps and all but let go of the rope as it raced through my belt on the way down...  
  
But then I started to get rope burns on my hands and my stomach was getting hot through the fabric of my shirt where the rope slid through my belt... so I had to slow it down a little. But I was still making the 'professional' look bad, so I was ok with that.  
  
I even started humming the Mission Impossible theme tune on the way down. I reached the window in half Miroku's time and was about to make a graceful entrance when a hand shot out, grabbed my ankle and yanked me inside. I cried out in surprise and barely avoided getting clobbered by the edge of the window.  
  
When I finally righted myself and was standing on carpeted office floor again I turned on my partner. "What the heck was that for?"  
  
"Just getting you back for dropping me." Miroku smirked and tugged the rope from my belt. "Come on, we don't have time to mess about."  
  
"Says you - I just sped you up, that's all!" I growled angrily.  
  
"Whatever. Leave the rope there - that's our escape route."  
  
We quickly hurried through the small office we'd landed in and stepped out into the corridor outside after Miroku had picked the lock. Then we were faced with a choice. Left or right?  
  
"I'll take the left - you take the right." Miroku pointed. "Come back here in thirty minutes or if you find the Shikon before me. And watch out for the guards."  
  
I nodded and started down the right hand way of the corridor while Miroku took the opposite direction. All I had to do was keep my eyes peeled for a certain 'Mr. Yamaki, Head Director of Door Handles and Knobs Incorporated' office...  
  
Now there was a title to be proud of.  
  
How had this moron managed to get his hands on a Shikon? Fake or otherwise? I had a horrible feeling that this would turn out to be a fake... and it would be yet another waste trip - that I would have paid for with rope burns on my hands and stomach. Wonderful.  
  
I rounded a corner and quickly threw myself back as I spotted a few security guards with flash lights up ahead. They hadn't seen me... but I had to wait until they had gone before I could continue again...  
  
This would be more difficult that infiltrating the Museum. For a start there were more than just two old age pensioners doing the nightly security rounds... there were at least fifty - and some of them were below the age of sixty as well. Shock. But it made me wonder why Bed Knobs and Broomsticks Incorporated or whatever needed so many guards. To protect the Shikon maybe?  
  
Even though I wasn't having to pretend to be Miroku anymore, I still had to wear the violet contacts and keep my hair tied up and hidden from sight. I even had been told to alter the sound of my voice - try and make it more smoother sounding if I ever had to talk. Just in case we were seen I still wasn't allowed to be associated with my family or a whole new scandal would hit the papers... and it wouldn't be about me and Kagome anymore.  
  
I got that prickling feeling of guilt when I remembered her. I was doing this mission to beat her family and leave them all in the dust so we Arashi's could win the election. It wasn't personally directed at Kagome... but it made me wonder. When the Arashi's won (no ifs here) would she hold it against me? Would she hate me?  
  
I didn't like to think about that... for now we were both fine with each other. We felt comfortable spending time together and we'd been on a few dates already... in fact we'd just been on one a couple of hours ago. We'd gone to the cinema to see a thriller movie. I'd deliberately chosen the thriller category so Kagome would scream and clutch my shirt like the dutiful date. Problem was... she'd been too busy making out with me to really notice the scary parts of the film. Well... I wasn't too disappointed I guess...  
  
The cinema had been dark so no one had recognised us... and when it was time to leave we'd done our secret agent stunt and pulled out some cool sunglasses. That didn't make us stand out at all (yeah, who doesn't wear sunglasses at night?).  
  
We'd split when she'd gotten a phone call from her father wanting her back home to do some errands. Not soon after I'd gotten a call from my own father wanting me to go steal the Shikon from this very building - he'd said Miroku would meet me there.  
  
Which brings me up to this moment in time, really wishing that Miroku could have gone alone and I could have spent more time with Kagome. She was just the person who made it all worth while getting up in the morning for. Sometimes I just dropped by her library, pretending to be picking up some biology text books for my job, just to see her.  
  
It was all like a dangerous little game. We had to 'accidentally' meet here and there. When we arranged dates we could never arrive places together or leave places together, otherwise it would look suspicious. If we ever accidentally met when we were with friends we'd have to pretend that we hadn't seen each other in ages... even though we'd probably just have met up for lunch not long ago.  
  
If anyone found out what we were really doing... we'd both be dead. Our families would kill us. Well... I doubted the Higurashi's would kill Kagome, but my father and my uncles weren't like the Higurashi's. If they thought for one minute that I had betrayed them then they would probably skin me alive... or at least get all my cousins to knock me out and leave me hanging nude from the Tokyo tower. That would be WORSE than being skinned alive...  
  
It was hard... with a girl like Kagome I just wanted to boast to everyone that she was mine. I wanted to yell from tall buildings that I was dating the most beautiful and brainy girl in Tokyo... or at least the most beautiful and brainy on her street. But I couldn't... I couldn't even tell Miroku about it. I was so proud, but so ashamed at the same time. I was sure Kagome felt the same way about it...  
  
All thoughts of Kagome flashed out of my mind as my eyes fell on one particular doorway with gold print on the frost tinted glass. 'Mr. Yamaki'. I'd found his office at last.  
  
And once again I was pulling ahead of Miroku in espionage. Maybe I should start considering getting paid for this?  
  
I glanced both ways to check that there were no security guards hanging around, before sneaking across and beginning to pick the lock. Ok... I wasn't so good at picking locks... that was Miroku's field. It was made extra hard by the fact that I was wearing gloves. People often commented that I could probably pick any lock with my claws, but that was a stupid assumption. My claws were no way near long enough to reach into locks, and in no way the right shape. They'd probably get lodged or broken and then I would have hang nails for days...  
  
I finally managed to get the pin in the right position, just as I heard talking and footsteps approaching my position. Security guards undoubtedly. I hastened my efforts to pick the lock open, jiggling the pin around and trying to remember what Miroku had said about aligning the something with the other thing in the lock...  
  
Finally the lock clicked and I opened it quickly to dash through. I closed it behind me as fast and as quietly as I could manage and held my breath while I waited for the security men to pass... I just hoped they wouldn't try the handle.  
  
They didn't. They walked straight on by without a break in their conversation about toilet seats. But I didn't start moving again until their footsteps had died away, along with the looming glow of their flash lights. Now I just had to locate the safe...  
  
The first place I checked of course, was behind all the painting and picture and even some of the posters. Unfortunately this guy hadn't done the typical movie thing and had kept the safe elsewhere. I checked the desk, snapping the locks on the drawers to see if he kept mini safes inside, but he didn't. I checked along the wall panels, pressing here and there to try and find a place where the wall moved or slid away or something strange like that...  
  
But this guy knew his safety precautions and after fifteen minutes I was stumped. I had fifteen minutes to get back and meet Miroku otherwise he would leave without me and take the escape rope with him thinking I had been captured by the guards or something. I'd found the office... but I just couldn't find the safe.  
  
Then I remembered something I'd seen in a really old film... and so turned my attention to the floor and began pulling up the carpet. It was a shame really... the carpet looked newly laid and expensive... and here I was ripping it up with my bare claws.  
  
I finally found the safe laid into the cement floor just in the corner of the room. If was green with one of those dial things on the door. I put my gloves back on and knelt down to lay one ear against the door and started turning the dial slowly with my hand. I waited for the heavy clunk sound, before beginning to turn it the other way...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
"What's the code again?" Sango asked as she examined the security pad at the entrance of the office building.  
  
"Why you asking me?" I shrugged. "I thought it was your job to remember those things?"  
  
"It is - but I wrote it down and gave the note to you." Sango turned to look back at me. "Come on Kagome, get with it."  
  
"Oh... sorry..." I fished out the note from where I'd stuffed it under my belt. I handed it to her and she punched out the code to unlock the doors. They clicked open and we were inside in a matter of seconds.  
  
"Faster than scaling the building to break in one of the windows, huh?" Sango laughed softly. "We gotta be careful though, this place has more guards than the museum. You keep your eyes peeled."  
  
"Why me?"  
  
"Because we're going to split up." Sango turned to take the stairs. "You take the lower floors and I'll do the higher - meet back here in an hour ok?"  
  
"Sango!"  
  
"Don't worry, I won't leave without you."  
  
"No - don't leave me alone!" I tried to follow her. "What if that Arashi guy is here - what if I bump into him?"  
  
"He won't be here." Sango shook her head. "Jacken assured me that this was hot off the press news. He wouldn't have managed to sell it to the Arashi's so soon. They probably won't be here till tomorrow night."  
  
I fidgeted slightly. "Fine..."  
  
"And remember... still to the shadows, stay out of the way of the guards - and use your powers if you're in a tight spot."  
  
"It's like I can turn them on and off you know..." I grumbled.  
  
Sango smiled beneath her face mask, I could only see it in her eyes though. "You'll be ok... now let's go get this job done, yeah?"  
  
"Ok..." I watched her climb the stairs until she was gone from sight, before turning and taking off down the corridor. I'd been told before hand by Sango that the corridors just led in a circle around each floor, so all I had to do was run down each corridor on each floor and look out for the right door.  
  
I didn't find any office belonging to Mr Yamaki on the ground floor, so I moved up to the second. I was delayed by a few security guards who had stopped in the middle of the corridor to chat over a few flasks of tea. I waited, wondering what to do for a while before deciding now would have been a great time to be invisible.  
  
Once more I'd concentrated hard and stepped out into the open. They didn't see me... and all I had to do was edge around them and I was free to roam again. The office wasn't on the second floor either... so I moved up to the third and ran around again... I was getting a little out of breath at this point.  
  
Then I spotted the door and I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd found it at last. Now all I had to do was unlock the door, go in and unlock the safe with the code that Sango had given me earlier-  
  
I tried the handle and the door swung open unexpectedly. That was strange... I thought it was supposed to have been locked? But then I realised just WHY it had been unlocked.  
  
"Oh no..." I whispered and took a small step back.  
  
It was the Arashi spy guy...  
  
He looked up the moment the door entered and his eyes fixed on me. I could almost feel, let alone see, his murderous intent rise. Where was Inuyasha when I needed him most?  
  
"You!" he rose to his feet in one fluid movement.  
  
"Me?" I changed my voice slightly, making it a little more coarse than it usually is.  
  
"Here to steal the jewel?" he asked in a smooth tone.  
  
"Uh..." I looked past him, down at where the carpet had been tugged up to expose a green safe. He hadn't opened it yet. "You too, huh?"  
  
He was going to fight me for it... I knew it... and I wasn't too sure about that idea.  
  
"Let me just warn you before we start... I know tai-kwon-do, karate, kung fu, sei-do-kan, judo..." I trailed off as I saw his incredulous look. "And... thirty two other intimidating words..."  
  
He didn't laugh... then again, I didn't really feel like laughing either. I was about to get beaten to a bloody pulp. I wanted to run away screaming for Sango - but that would either get me caught by the guards, or totally embarrassed.  
  
Well. It was better than being dead.  
  
I turned heel and began to run. But the guy was very fast for a mere human, and he grabbed the back of my shirt, hauling me backwards into the room to slam the door and trap me alone with him. My heart suddenly leapt into my throat and I was finding it difficult to swallow.  
  
"Now how about you just shut your mouth and take a little nap?" he asked close to me ear, one hand over my mouth and the other to jab my neck. I reacted without thinking, and bit him so hard he felt it through the cloth of my mask and through the material of his gloves. He gasped in pain and pushed me away at once.  
  
I staggered slightly before spinning around and taking a defensive stance used by martial artists. The truth was... the defensive stance was about all I knew, but I thought if I looked like I knew what I as doing he would leave me alone. But unfortunately, he took the same stance, with a lot more grace, and he wasn't shaking like I was.  
  
I was screwed...  
  
"Maybe we can talk this through...?" I tried to reason.  
  
But obviously there was no reasoning with this guy. He charged straight at me and I was faced with a split second choice. Dive left or right now?  
  
So I chose both.  
  
As strange enough as that sounded... it wasn't half as strange as what actually happened. I couldn't make the choice, so instead of sitting there and taking the attack like a duck, I split into two and threw myself both ways. I landed hard against the wall on the left... while at the same time I felt myself have a softer landing on the cushions to the right. When I looked up I saw the Miroku guy from two new angles... I saw ME sitting on the other side of the room... I saw myself staring at myself...  
  
In short... I'd just multiplied myself. And I could see things from both bodies. And I was completely freaked out.  
  
"What the hell did you do?!" I screamed at the guy - made even louder by the fact that two Kagome's were yelling it.  
  
The guy looked helplessly between the two of us... obviously lost for reasons as to what had just happened. He'd dropped his stance and stared at the me who had landed on the cushions. "What are you?!"  
  
I couldn't explain it... I felt a little like god because I was in two places at once.  
  
My powers... that was the only explanation I could come up with. I'd duplicated myself... but maybe that would work to my advantage. I would work out how to get myself back together later.  
  
"Alright you!" I jumped up from the cushions, followed shortly by the other Kagome who'd fallen on the floor. "You're in for it now!"  
  
"You're gonna regret what you've made me do!" I yelled from the left.  
  
"You were outmatched to begin with." I told him from the right.  
  
"But now you're outnumbered too!"  
  
They poor guy looked between us, clearly confused. "...the hell?"  
  
And we attacked him at the same time. He was so surprised he didn't react quick enough. I managed to land punches on his face, his arms, his stomach and even his legs before he had enough initiative to react. Who needed Inuyasha now?  
  
Well... I did start to need the super strong boyfriend when the guy started fighting back. All of a sudden he was blocking all of my kicks and punches. He was the martial artist... we were just ganging up on him without much skill to begin with.  
  
Suddenly the me from the left got punched hard in the stomach and I reeled back and slammed against the wall. The me from the right suddenly didn't feel like fighting anymore on my own. I backed up slowly as he turned and advanced on me, massaging his bruised cheek through the mask.  
  
"I don't know what the hell kind of demon you are to do all those weird things... but you're too weird to allow to live." He drew his fist back and aimed for my head.  
  
On the other side of the room I managed to stagger to my feet from where I'd been knocked down... he didn't see that me coming and I threw myself at his back and took a strangle hold around his neck.  
  
He choked out a gasp and began to grip my arm hard while the second me remained pressed up against the wall watching what was going on. "Help me!" I yelled to her.  
  
"You got it covered!" I yelled back.  
  
Yes, I did realise I was arguing with myself. A very bad sign indeed.  
  
"Get off me you bitch!" The Arashi spy squeezed my arm tightly and began reaching around to grab me in order to tear me off him. That's when the second me against the wall decided to act. I ran up towards the struggling pair and with a full on grimace, I kicked him hard... down there.  
  
He struggling stopped at once as he dropped to his knees with a agonised gasp. From where I was situated on his back, I slid off and stepped back. "Sorry..." I told him.  
  
I ran to the desk in the office and grabbed a flower vase that sat there. I ran back and handed it to the second me, who then brought it down on his head. The first me quickly proceeded to punch him in the stomach shortly after.  
  
We put him out of his misery by knocking him unconscious. That was our theory anyway. He dropped to the ground with a soft groan and his eyes slid close.  
  
I turned around suddenly, and accidentally bumped into my other self. And suddenly everything snapped back into place and I could see things from only one perspective. Looking around there were only two people in the office now... me and him.  
  
Personally I was glad it was over...  
  
Personally I was pretty proud of myself for taking down the hulk man. I'd landed good punches that I just knew would be bruises tomorrow. But my arm was stinging... and as I looking down at my forearm, I realised he'd managed to cut a shallow gash that spread almost all the way from the wrist to the elbow. When had that happened? Where was his weapons?  
  
I stumbled over to the safe, regardless of my injury. The moment I reached it the Arashi guy groaned and I had to hurry my pace up a little as he began to come around. I took out the code I'd written down and quickly spun the dial to open it. It gave a soft click as it unlocked and I yanked the door open and stuck my hand inside.  
  
There were many wads of bank notes and other more valuable certificates and documents piles in there. I ignored it all and grabbed the lone black box in there. I pulled it out and ripped it open.  
  
A wedding ring?  
  
With careless disregard I pulled the ring out and tossed it behind me and lifted the velvet presentation cushion to look underneath - and found it.  
  
But it was a fake.  
  
"Dammit!" I hissed angrily and glanced over to Miroku who was beginning to stir.  
  
There was nothing more I could do. I'd just put my life on the line for no reason. With an angry growl I tossed the jewel down into the safe and ran from the room before he managed to come around completely. I was late to meet Sango anyway... she wouldn't be happy that it was another fake.  
  
My FATHER wouldn't be happy it was another fake...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
In was all a wonderful magical blur... First of all it had looked like a simple manoeuvre. Knock the girl out or scare her away... but then she'd done that splitting thing and suddenly there were two of them.  
  
I knew it was the same girl as before. She was human... but she somehow concealed her scent and she probably could have turned invisible on me. That wasn't a simple human...  
  
And somehow she'd managed to knock me senseless for a few seconds. It was unbelievable. The little girl had somehow managed to take me down in a matter of minutes... it was embarrassing really...  
  
When I could finally manage to pull myself to my feet, she was gone, I could just see her disappearing down the corridor through the open door. I checked the safe and found the Shikon... but by the looks of things I reckoned it was a fake or she would have taken it. I picked it up just to be sure... and felt no power from it whatsoever.  
  
With a sigh and tossed it back in disgust and headed out the door, not bothering to close it behind me.  
  
I met up with Miroku in the office on the fourth floor, the one with the open window we'd come through. "Find it?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah... but it was a fake." I rubbed my sore head. "I had a run-in with that weird human chick... she knocked me out..."  
  
"Maybe she is a witch." Miroku said as handed the rope to me so I could begin to climb to the roof first. I tugged the lower half of my mask off so I could breath more easily... and Miroku did the same - giving me the shock of my life.  
  
"Bloody hell! What happened to you?!" I gaped at him. He had a nice little black ring around his right eye... he cheek was bruised purple and his lip with split.  
  
"I... fell down the stairs?" he offered lamely, dabbing at his bleeding lip and wincing as he did so.  
  
"Oh..." I suddenly got a sly expression. "That little crazy chick I met wasn't alone was she... I bet Sango was here..."  
  
"We met upstairs... had a bit of a fight..." He grimaced.  
  
"She beat the shit out of you, didn't she?" I laughed out loud at him. "Damn, even I gave you credit to be stronger than that girl."  
  
"Actually - I was winning up until the point I got a strangle hold on her and she all but presented her lovely shaped behind to me." Miroku sighed dreamily. "That was worth getting thrashed..."  
  
"You touched her?" I stared at him. "Idiot..."  
  
"Who are you to talk? You didn't make any moves on that other girl and she still knocked you out." Miroku smirked cockily before wincing, "Ow..."  
  
"Ok... that's a point to you... that means we're even now." I said as I began to pull myself out of the window and walk up the side of the building to the roof. I suppose I could always have gotten even by cutting the rope behind me...  
  
Nah... I'll save that one for next time.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: What a loving couple they make... when they're not kicking the crap out of each other they're making out in the cinema... There's the type of relationship you always wanted. ^_^ Aw... 


	7. Another Family Outing

AN: Haven't updated this one in a while so I thought I'd give it a shot. Anyway, I'm tired and bogged down with revision - so excuse the crappiness of this chapter (I'm hoping it's just me that thinks this) I swear I have better plans in the future of this fic, but I have to get to the future of this fic in order to write such stuff...  
  
I wish I could speak German... (randomness on my part here)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
Another Family Outing...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
It was supposed to be a nice little outing for the family. And it started out well... but an hour later, I felt like I was living one horrific nightmare. I should have caught a clue when it was the Supei's who invited us along to the opera house. Supei... hm... did you know that their name meant spy?  
  
Should have gotten a clue years ago from their name...  
  
"You do realise what this means don't you?" Sango asked from my wardrobe as she rifled through the contents to find a dress to her liking.  
  
"Huh?" I wasn't really paying attention - the big sliced up cut along my arm was only just beginning to scab over... yes, I admit that I was picking at it. So absorbed in doing this I didn't really take notice of what Sango was doing.  
  
"The Supei's are inviting us along to an opera..." Sango took out a black dress and held it against her as she looked at herself critically in the mirror. "Why do you think that would be?"  
  
"Um..." I glanced up at her and shrugged. "To show off how much money they have a suppose..."  
  
Sango sighed at my newbie attitude before deciding she didn't like the black dress and threw it back inside the walk in wardrobe. She proceeded to search for something else. "Kagome, with all reason, the Supei's are nice people, but these get-togethers that they keep hosting have ulterior motives as well you know."  
  
"I knew it!" I quickly snapped my fingers. "They're really trying to sabotage our chances of winning the election! I knew they were too nice to be real humans..."  
  
"Nope." Sango shook her head. "They hold these get-togethers for us and the Arashi's to attend. It makes them look like the peacekeepers. The people who have somehow managed to bridge a small relationship between the political feudal families of the decade. It makes us look like petty brats while the Supei's look like sensible mature adults. They'll win the election at this rate..."  
  
"I guess." I pulled a face as I scratched my arm.  
  
"Don't pick at it - it'll scar!" Sango snapped as she caught sight of what I was doing. I dropped my hand automatically and proceeded to scratch my knee to occupy my fidgety fingers. "How did you get that injury anyway?"  
  
"Miroku..." I sighed. "I think after you beat him senseless he bumped into me in that office. He must have been really out of it because it didn't take much to put him out."  
  
"He's a little weakling anyway." Sango said shortly, obviously still mad that Miroku had tried to grope her whilst they'd been fighting. I wondered why he hadn't groped me in the same fashion though...? Maybe I was too non- pretty?  
  
"Oh this is a nice one..." Sango stepped out of the wardrobe with an emerald dress clasped against her front. It was a long one with intricate little sparkly bead patterns. I swallowed my protest when I saw it... I'd wanted to wear that one...  
  
"Suits you." I said truthfully. Well, maybe green wasn't my colour.  
  
"Mm." Sango hummed happily and mooched over to sit on my bed. "You're turn now."  
  
I stood up with a resigned sigh and headed into the wardrobe to pick something out.  
  
"You know," Sango called after me as she examined the dress close-up. "Even though going to the opera will be helping the Supei's get more votes - it's still nice to dress up for a nice and get a bit of culture in our veins."  
  
"How about we don't go - then we won't be helping the Supei's?" I suggested.  
  
"Nah... that would do us more harm than good in the public eye." Sango shot down that idea fairly quickly. "It would make us look even more petty and insolent for turning down an invitation like this. The best thing we can do to combat this would be to host parties and stuff of our own..."  
  
I snorted at that idea as I shoved through my more elegant dresses. "I'd like to see the day Dad willingly invites an Arashi along to a ball. Supei's maybe, but he'd never allow one of the Arashi's into this household."  
  
"Oh yeah - your father says you mustn't talk to Inuyasha." Sango called absently. "You're not even allowed to look at him tonight."  
  
My hands froze in their action as what she said stunned me to silence. I forced myself to continue looking through the dresses while forcing my voice to remain casual. "Why's that?"  
  
"Well, after that ball thing with the two of you dancing, the reporters and photographers at the opera house are going to be watching the two of you like hawks." Sango smirked. "Even a casual glance caught on camera would be scandal all over again."  
  
"Why would I glance at him anyway?" I said quickly, maybe a little too quickly.  
  
I almost felt Sango stop examining her dress to look up at me calmly. She spoke after a few tense moments. "I'm not saying you would... but your father doesn't want to press to carry on this... false pretence."  
  
Politics... it was doing my head in right then. Everything me and my family did had to be for show, for the public to see. We had to act a certain way... I felt like a caged animal at a circus. Poke me with a stick and watch me jump through hoops on command!  
  
It was tiring. I'd be so glad when the election was done and over with and Dad was prime minister. No more posing for cameras anymore with our place in the government secured.  
  
I dully picked out a dress at random, noting the colour was red. I smiled slightly... Inuyasha's favourite colour was red... Maybe I shouldn't wear it, it might draw his attention like a bull to a matador...  
  
But then again, why the hell not? I looked good in red... and if I wore such a bold colour, Inuyasha wouldn't be the only one being blinded by me. I turned and held it against me for Sango to see. "What do you think?"  
  
"Nice. It has long sleeves, good." She noted, eyeing my injured arm. I followed her gaze and realised her meaning.  
  
If the press got hold of a picture with me and a shredded arm I could just imagine the headlines that would pop up the next day. 'Kagome Higurashi attempts to commit suicide - but too thick to aim for her wrist!' or 'Kagome Higurashi violently attacked by maniacal street thug - family keeping it under wraps!'.  
  
Not that they'd actually call me Kagome. Whenever I was mentioned in the papers it would always be 'Mr Higurashi's daughter' or 'eldest child' and variations of that.  
  
Well I didn't feel too chirpy at that moment in time, but I was sure that I would perk up later. I was only a little sulky because my father had chewed me out earlier for my failure to obtain the Shikon no Tama. Again.  
  
I'd pointed out rather innocently that if he wanted a professional attempt to get the jewel, maybe he should push the boat out and hire another professional like Sango instead of slamming the locks down on his wallet and being cheap by getting his daughter to do it.  
  
I'm grounded now.  
  
But, I'm allowed out to the opera, since it wouldn't look good if I didn't turn up. I guess things were looking up already.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
  
  
  
  
"Why aren't you READY yet?!!"  
  
My father was yelling so loud that my ears were thrumming. I dodged another one of his half-hearted swipes to cuff my ear and slipped around him to get out of his way. "I haven't got any special clothes for this kind of thing - what am I supposed to do?!" I yelled right back, moving behind one of my female cousins in an effort to use her as a shield. "It's not my fault you're too tight to splash out on clothes for your mongrel son!"  
  
"Kiri!" My father snapped his fingers at his niece. She rolled her eyes and moved away from me, leaving me vulnerable to attack again. "You haven't got any clothes - then get some!"  
  
"Shall I just conjure them out of thin air?!" my voice was going slightly hoarse now. Believe it or not, we'd been yelling at each other for over 84 hours, intermittently, about several different things. The main argument that had sparked off the acoustic contest had of course been my failure to bring the Shikon home. Of course that had been almost a week ago.  
  
But Dad always liked to drag these things out and let everyone know how mad he was at me.  
  
"Miroku!" my father suddenly yelled. "He's roughly the same size as you - you're both quite small - take some of his clothes!"  
  
"Clothes he's worn?!" I gaped at him. "No way, old man!"  
  
"Either that or go naked!" My father handed out the ultimatum.  
  
I really didn't have a choice in the matter. I HAD to go. I was probably the second most famous member on this family and the press would be on the look out for me... and Kagome presumably.  
  
"Fine!" I yelled and stormed out of the living room and down the old corridors to find Miroku's guest room.  
  
In truth I would have liked to stay and battle it out for a little while longer, but my voice wasn't used to even this much strain, and I was worried that if I stayed much longer then my voice would break and I'd sound like an idiot. My dignity came before my pride in this case.  
  
"Hey Miroku!" he pushed open his door without knocking and saw him sat before his mirror, examining his face closely. "Hey, ya vain git, I need you to help me out with something."  
  
"Do I still look a little black around the eyes?" he turned to face me.  
  
I looked shrewdly for a moment before pulling a frown. "Are you wearing make-up?"  
  
"I had to!" he said defensively. "Sango dealt me a hard one back there... I still have a black eye under all this foundation."  
  
What the hell was foundation? I stomped up behind him and looked at the cosmetics lying beside him. "Oh... mom is so not going to be happy you nicked her make-up."  
  
"It's for a needy cause."  
  
"I'll give you a needy cause." I left his side to go check out his wardrobe space. "I need to borrow some smart get-up."  
  
"Tuxedo?" Miroku asked.  
  
"Nah, smart casual." I told him. "All my smart stuff is on the bedroom floor, needs to be ironed. You won't have anything will you?"  
  
"Sure, I have tons of smart clothes. Always good to look your best." He said this while I swore he dabbed a bit of eyeshadow on. "So what are the ladies going in?"  
  
"They have to go very smart." I said absently as I threw his clothes out of his drawers in an effort to find something half decent. "Ballroom gowns, poor cows. I hear Sango's gone and nicked one of Kagome's dresses."  
  
"Sango's going?" Miroku suddenly perked up. "In one of Kagome's SMALL dresses?"  
  
I smirked. "Sure."  
  
"Count me in then."  
  
"Miroku..." I said as I finished clearing out his drawers for him. "Don't you have anything that's at least only mildly gay?"  
  
"Are you trying to say something there?" he came over to take a look and I got a nice close-up of his 'foundation' covered cheekbone. "This isn't gay - this is all the stuff girls swoon for."  
  
"Just give me some and we'll all be happy, ok?" I grabbed some random clothes and made off to my room to get changed. I didn't like operas. I'd never been to one but how interesting was it to sit in a box and hold binoculars up to your eyes to see fat ladies prancing around on stage with those Viking hats and wigs?  
  
It had better be damn exciting for the amount we were paying to get in...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~Kagome~  
  
  
  
  
  
The press was waiting outside the opera house when we arrived in our stretch limousines. A red curtain had been rolled up to the entrance from the pavement and rails had been put in place to hold the crowd back. And what a crowd...  
  
I almost fainted when I stepped out of the vehicle to be met by a dazzling storm of flashes all around me. I could barely see the red carpet anymore as all I could see were bright sun spots dancing in my vision. I would have been lost if Sango hadn't grasped my elbow gently but firmly and guided me in my mother and father's wake.  
  
As we passed the reporters with camera crews and microphones blurted things over the din around us. I caught some of the things directed at me.  
  
"Kagome, have you seen Inuyasha recently?"  
  
"Is it true you're having a secret affair?"  
  
"Are the rumours true?"  
  
"Does Inuyasha like it on top or beneath?"  
  
"Doggy style?!"  
  
And some of the things they said were worse. I just had to duck my head to hide my blush and pick up the pace a little to get inside all the faster. Sango was an appreciated force to lean on... I don't know what I'd do without her.  
  
Inside the foyer, everything was so much calmer. It was free of paparazzi creeps and flashing lights. It was quite nice and traditional actually... like an old western style palace. Guests other than the three political families were there to see the opera as well. But the Supei's were the ones going around greeting people individually and welcoming them.  
  
As soon as we Higurashi's stepped into the entrance hall, we were greeted by Mr Supei.  
  
"Ah - here you all are, the whole family together again." He beamed at us happily as he approached. "Mr Higurashi, your wife puts every other woman here to shame. And little Kagome - have you shot up while I turned my back."  
  
I pointed cluelessly at my shoes. "Heels." I said as if that explained it all. My father gave me another nudge that had me stumbling.  
  
"Well I like your dress, Kagome." He said, like he was talking to a small child. "You outshine everyone here!"  
  
"Butt muncher..." Sango coughed discreetly close to my ear. I smiled at that.  
  
"Anyway." Mr Supei turned to a group of people who were approaching our family group as well. All dressed in smart and beautiful clothes. "I think you've already met most of my family, but I do believe you haven't met Naraku and Kikyo."  
  
The two he motioned to stepped forward and I did a double take. Kikyo looked startlingly similar to... well... me. There were differences, but we had the same basic features in our face... the real difference was her build of body. She was slightly taller than me, longer legs and a bigger chest that all but strained against the bust of her gown. I admit that my eyes sorta slid from her face to her chest within seconds of seeing her... just waiting for that lace up corset to snap and bear all.  
  
I wasn't jealous or anything. My bust size is perfectly average thank you very much. And I wasn't self-conscious about it or anything.  
  
"Nice to meet you." I bowed slightly with an automatic smile.  
  
"You to." Kikyo returned the smile in the same way and nodded her head. Naraku preferred to shake hands. He was much taller than a lot of the men around us. The perfect tall, dark, handsome stranger... that made me a little nervous instantaneously. "A pleasure." He muttered, without a smile, looking awfully bored.  
  
"Yeah." Was all I said to his greeting, a little shy already.  
  
They weren't Supei, Kikyo and Naraku. I'd heard of them before, from Sango no less. I knew they were employed by Mr Supei under the official guise of 'personal assistant'. Just like Sango was my father's PA and Miroku was Mr Arashi's PA. I reckoned Kikyo and Naraku were both PA's to Mr Supei... in the spying and ninja way...  
  
Well Kikyo didn't seem that bad...  
  
"Ah - and here's the rest!" Mr Supei moved past us suddenly to greet new arrivals. Glancing back I felt my stomach tighten... it was the Arashi family. Complete with Miroku and Inuyasha.  
  
I hadn't seen him in a week... there hadn't been the opportunity of the time. We'd only talked on the phone so far... I felt very love sick all of a sudden at the mere sight of him.  
  
Inuyasha's bored wandering gaze met mine, but it didn't linger for very long. He soon looked away and carried on trailing his eyes around the foyer like we didn't know each other as well as everyone assumed. He was better at this whole 'secret' affair thing. I couldn't help but stare at him.  
  
Mr Supei did the introduction thing again with the Arashi's. I was surprised to find that Inuyasha already knew Kikyo... but he didn't know Naraku.  
  
Jealousy bit me then. When Mr Supei moved off with his family and Kikyo stayed to strike up a conversation with both Miroku and Inuyasha. Mr Arashi and my father exchanged curt nods of heads in general greeting. But I wouldn't have been in the least surprised if one of them snapped and lunged for the other's throat.  
  
"Kagome..."  
  
I jerked my gaze away from Inuyasha's direction to look at Sango... who was giving me one of those superior looks. She knew what I had been looking at... which made me gulp a little. I KNEW she just had know about me and Inuyasha... and she knew I knew she knew.  
  
I know... that sounds complicated.  
  
Fortunately for me she wasn't going to make a big deal about it, I could depend on her for that much at least. She wouldn't go running to my father with her hand stuck in the air like a little kid desperate for a teacher's attention. But she wasn't pleased, if that sour look that followed the superior look was anything to go by.  
  
She looked like she was about to say something to me, but just then the announcement that the opera was due to start soon arrived. Sango seemed to forget that I existed as she bubbled up with excitement... I guess she didn't get to do this kind of classy thing everyday.  
  
We were shown to our seats personally by Mr Supei... who seemed to have purposely put us in the same box as the Arashi's. Not a smart move. But quite a funny thing to see.  
  
The box was fairly long, and probably held the best seats in the whole dome like hall, it certainly had enough room to fit both Arashi and Higurashi families with a few seats left spare. But it still meant we had to sit together... now that was going to be a problem.  
  
As soon as I stepped into the box I felt my father stiffen in front of me when he saw who else was entering the same box through the curtains at the other end. Arashi saw Higurashi, and both men froze at the same moment, really reluctant to take another step that would lead them closer.  
  
"Scared of heights, Dad?" I hazarded a cheeky guess. I really shouldn't have done that, because I soon found myself being thrust before him as he marched to sit down on the front row. Mr Arashi has just done a similar thing to one of his son's... Inuyasha to be exact. It was a lame excuse to have us both sit between the two fathers, and shield them from one another.  
  
But it meant I would have to sit next to Inuyasha...  
  
I felt giddy and scared all at once and I kept darting him a panicked look as we drew closer to each other down the front row of seats. But suddenly... just as I was about to take a nervous seat beside him, my father seemed to realise his mistake in seating arrangements. He grabbed my arm and dragged me back without a word, shoving Sango without warning into the seat beside Inuyasha.  
  
My boyfriend just shot both me and Sango an amused look before turning his attention elsewhere.  
  
I almost felt disappointed as I took my seat beside Sango and next to my mother... I'd really wanted to be close to him again. But fate had been cheating me out of that recently.  
  
Sango was trying to discreetly smother her grin as she sat between us... she kept flicking a glance to me, then to Inuyasha before shuffling down in her seat to contain her mirth. I had no idea what was so funny... but I suppose she was laughing at our lame attempts to conceal any sort of feelings for one another.  
  
Her laughter soon died in her throat as two hands clamped onto her shoulders from the row behind us. Miroku leaned over and gave her squeeze. "Wow, Sango, you seem really tense. Do you want a massage? I give great massages."  
  
Hang on was he wearing make-up...?  
  
"Get off!" Sango snapped suddenly, swotting at his hands. He withdrew them without any hurry but still remained leaning over the back of her seat.  
  
"Such a great view... a very beautiful one, don't you think?" he asked Sango.  
  
"Yes... those red drapes really set off the gold walls..." Sango mumbled angrily.  
  
"I wasn't talking about THAT view..." Miroku said in a sly tone, by now his gaze had slid down from the stage far below us to look at Sango's cleavage.  
  
Sango swung around so fast they nearly collided together. "Sit down and shut up! I came to enjoy this thing and I will not let YOU ruin this for me!"  
  
"You know-"  
  
"I don't want to know! Shut up!" Sango pushed him back into the seat behind her. "I get enough of you at night - I don't need you during the day too!"  
  
What she'd said seemed to amuse him even more, and after a moment or two, Sango caught on to the meaning as well and blushed deeply. She spluttered angrily for a moment before growling. "Shut up!" and flopped back down in her seat with a huff.  
  
Me and Inuyasha exchanged a short glance across the steaming girl. He winked at me before turning away and my stomach fluttered. I turned away quickly when my mother touched my arm to get my attention and point to the assembling orchestra below.  
  
After a while the excited atmosphere was ruined once more as the front row seats began to jump to a slow steady beat. Someone was kicking the chairs from behind... and according to the not-so-innocent whistling from behind Sango, I figured it had to be Miroku.  
  
Sango couldn't take it anymore. She stood with a flourish and a glare at Miroku. "That's it! I'm moving!"  
  
And with that she flounced off to find somewhere else to sit. The seats stopped thumping as Miroku quickly toddled after her. Poor girl...  
  
But this meant there was no a vacated seat where Sango had been... and no one was blocking my path to Inuyasha now. We both glanced at each other at the same time, cautious that people might be watching us without or knowledge. Bit considering everyone around us was busy, we were safe to talk.  
  
"Hello stranger." Inuyasha's hand sneaked across the empty seat in a very daring move to take my own hand in his.  
  
I squeezed back with a smile as I looked elsewhere, but spoke to him only. "Haven't seen you since the cinema."  
  
"How long ago was that?" he asked, also averting his eyes so a casual onlooker wouldn't think we were talking to each other.  
  
"A week." I answered.  
  
"Seems like forever." He groaned, releasing my hand to clasp the arm rests. "I've been tied down with lame shifts at work... sorry..."  
  
"Not your fault." I shrugged easily. "It's not like I've not been a busy bee. Dad keeps setting me little errands now and then... they've been keeping me away too."  
  
"Same here."  
  
There was a long pause before he glanced over at me suddenly. "What happened to your arm?"  
  
"Huh?" I darted a startled look at him before self-consciously rubbing my arm. The sleeve was long... but it was slightly see through. "Oh... I, uh, caught it on some wire in the library."  
  
Inuyasha regarded me quietly for a moment with a strange expression. It went over my head as to what he might find odd about that excuse. "Is it ok?" he asked finally.  
  
"It was shallow, not too bad." I told him with a grin. "Can't stop itching it now."  
  
"Mm." He nodded in understanding, but he was frowning. He frowned when he heard things he didn't like. Either he didn't like my excuse, or he didn't like the fact that I'd been injured.  
  
I wasn't sure what his problem was...  
  
But before I could ask, someone dropped into the seat between us, and instead of Inuyasha's face, all I saw was the back of Kikyo's head.  
  
"This seat taken?" she asked Inuyasha who shook his head. He probably didn't think Sango would be back... but... now we couldn't talk.  
  
"This is so exciting, isn't it?" Kikyo whispered in a hushed tone to Inuyasha. "I've never been to an opera before."  
  
"They say you'll walk in and hate or love it forever." He replied. That made me blink. Since when was Inuyasha culturally broad minded?  
  
"I think I'll love it." Kikyo replied in an earnest tone. "What about you?"  
  
"Dunno yet. I'll have to wait and see."  
  
This continued for an unbelievable ten minutes. Even though I knew Kikyo was not intentionally snubbing me out of the conversation, I felt rather neglected all of a sudden. Like I was at a party feeling that no one would really miss me if I was gone...  
  
Inuyasha was supposed to be my boyfriend and he was chatting away with Kikyo like they were best buddies. Maybe they were. But the way she kept laughing in that breathy flirtatious way got to me... and the way she kept nonchalantly touching his arm got to me...  
  
The orchestra was taking a heck of a long time to get themselves arranged... and they hadn't even started warming up yet.  
  
With Kikyo laughing on my right and my mother nattering to my father on my left, I felt like I was on the ghetto outskirts between two cities - or in this case, two families. I drummed my fingers angrily against my arm rests, the wonder of opera leaving me before I'd even seen the show.  
  
Kikyo suddenly burst out laughing at something rather amusing told by Inuyasha and I decided I'd had enough, just like Sango. I stood abruptly and started making my way down the row. As I passed my father he kicked his leg out, breaking my path - or just trying to trip me up. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Bathroom." I said shortly, stepping over his barrier of legs and stomping out of the box.  
  
It took me a further five minutes to actually find the blasted ladies room - and inside, I found that it was quite nice. I'd actually be willing to sleep in here as a bedroom... why not? It was big and clean enough... a bit bright maybe...?  
  
I moved over to the mirrors and winced at my appearance. I seemed a little pale right then, but still pretty, I thought. Maybe not as attractive as Kikyo... but not ugly...  
  
My thoughts made me slouch slightly with fatigue. Maybe Inuyasha had lost interest in our relationship now. Maybe he was just making excuses not to see me. Maybe he was really after Kikyo - he seemed to know her well enough. Maybe... maybe he didn't love me like I loved him...  
  
I knew I'd been too fast to reach the conclusion of love so soon... of course he didn't love me...  
  
A soft groan escaped my throat as I crouched down and rested my forehead against the lip of the sink basin, my hands gripping the edge loosely. I was such a pathetic looser... freaking out so much over a relationship that wasn't so serious.  
  
But how easily had he forgotten my existence back there.  
  
Maybe - maybe I'd run away in a fit of tears crying - 'why oh why doesn't he love me anymore' and then maybe I'd get hit by a truck and smeared like paste over the road - no! I would beautifully collapse onto the road in my best dress and make-up and give my last gasped out words to a stranger 'Inuyasha!!'. The papers would run my beautiful picture all over the front pages and blame Inuyasha for causing my untimely death - it would be national news - wait - INTERnational news! And Inuyasha would cry at my funeral, kicking and punching himself repeatedly for ever ignoring me - blaming himself for my death. And at some point Kikyo would have to fall into a grave and accidentally be taken for a dead corpse and get buried alive.  
  
I needed aspirin...  
  
Somewhere beyond he bathroom I heard the orchestra begin to warm up... the sound travelled out even this far? That was quite unusual...  
  
Maybe I would stay here for the rest of the opera? Would anyone miss me? Not likely...  
  
I must have been so absorbed in my thoughts and fantasies that I didn't hear the door open. I did, however, feel the rough hands that suddenly clamped over my mouth and eyes to drag me up suddenly. I couldn't see, I couldn't scream... I just had to struggle, but I was no match for this person's strength...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: Next chapter - ' Until the fat lady sings' 


	8. Fatherly Love

AN: Well seeing as I don't really have any serious long fics to be updated like Soul Exchange or anything, I might as well get on with this. But be warned, I do have another long AU fic in mind soon ^_^  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
Rules of Acquisitions  
  
Fatherly Love  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
Kagome sneaked off with a sour look on her face, though I didn't exactly blame her. She cast me and Kikyo one last irate glance before standing up shortly and stomping off down the front row. Internally I winced like I'd been slapped as I continued to pretend to be listening to what Kikyo was saying.  
  
Kikyo's hand touched my arm again, nearly distracting me from seeing Kagome being blocked by her father and questioned. I couldn't hear what they said since Kikyo droned out a lot of sound in that opera hall. No offence to the girl or anything...  
  
"Where's she gone to...?" I let slip as my gaze followed Kagome as she stalked out of the box, all but throwing the red curtain aside as she left.  
  
Kikyo followed my gaze, catching the last glimpse of a girl in a red dress marching out. She shrugged and turned back to me. "Little girl's room? Anyway, as I was saying - that spider in banana thing really had poor Naraku at his wits end - you remember how when he was a kid we used to put that Halloween spiders in his bed and..."  
  
I lost track of what she was saying as I began to fidget uncomfortably. She was jealous - and I hadn't even intended to make her that way. Yeah, sometimes I gave other girls flirty looks when Kagome was around - but that was only to wind her up. Didn't she understand that I couldn't look like I wanted her over Kikyo? If I shrugged Kikyo off she would get a clue and then the rumours would be flying all over again... as if they weren't already.  
  
And the whole doggy style thing was SO not funny.  
  
"Oh look - they're starting!" Kikyo broke off whatever she'd been telling me as she caught sight of the dimming lights and the orchestra beginning to warm up and get in tune with one another. At last Kikyo seemed more interested in watching men blow horns than talking to me... I tried not to be to offended as I casually slid out of my seat and picked my way down the row.  
  
A strong hand with iron claws suddenly grabbed my arm and I hissed in pain as my father yanked me down so my ear was close to his head. "Where are you going?" he snapped.  
  
"Little Hanyou's room." I replied curtly and yanked my arm from his grip and all but stumbled out of the box, massaging my abused arm. Why did he always have to do that...  
  
I sighed as I tried to relax and headed in the vague direction of the ladies room... it took me a few minutes to find it, and a few more minutes to summon the courage to step into the unknown. If there were any women in there then I was a dead little puppy...  
  
I pushed the door open silently, and peeked inside. Relief flooded me at once as I saw only Kagome crouched by the sinks with her forehead resting against the marble edge. She had her eyes closed and she didn't seem to register I was there. Relief seeped away as I realised she looked very tense and anxious.  
  
Well. There was only one way to deal with jumpy, easily startled people - the same way you deal with those with heart conditions!  
  
I sneaked up behind her and grabbed her so fast I felt her smothered scream against my hand as I dragged her up from the floor. She struggled for a moment until she seemed to get her senses straight - too bad for me. She elbowed me in the stomach, hard.  
  
I let go of her at once and stepped back with a gasp as she fumbled around for the heavy soap dish to lob at me. Fortunately she turned around before she threw it... but then she nearly threw it at me anyway in sheer anger.  
  
"Inuyasha! NOT funny!" she half screamed. "I thought you were some creepy kidnapper!"  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you." I smirked and straightened, reaching out to take her hand. She moved away from me and turned her back to lean on the marble sink surface. I was stumped for a moment... was I dumped? Then I remembered, she was still mad at me for what happened a few minutes ago.  
  
"What's biting you?" I sidled up beside her, causing her to sidle away in response.  
  
"You. Obviously." She was clenching her teeth and her fists so tightly that her knuckles were going white. "So how come you know Kikyo so well?"  
  
"Dunno." I shrugged.  
  
Kagome glared at me. "Dunno? What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I don't know how I know her so well. I've known her since forever." I defended myself. "Besides... when you've known someone since they were an iddy biddy drooling baby... you don't see them in any special way later on in life. It kinda puts you off them."  
  
"She didn't seem put off by you."  
  
"Well, that's because I'm irresistible no matter what." I replied cockily, seeing her smile slightly. I cocked my head and turned serious for her benefit. "Look, I ignored you back there because Kikyo would be the first person to notice anything between us. She's hypersensitive to details. One glance between us and she'd know something was up."  
  
"I guess..." her tone was weary... I suppose she was as sick of this charade as I was.  
  
"By the way, you look beautiful tonight." I said softly. "How did you know red was my favourite colour?"  
  
She smiled knowingly as she straightened and gave me a peck on the cheek. "What I'd like to know is why you didn't wear MY favourite colour?"  
  
"What's your favourite colour?"  
  
Kagome was about to answer when we both heard the orchestra start up. She changed her answer. "We better go back - I'll go first since I left first - you come in a few minutes."  
  
"Sure." I sighed as I leaned against the sinks and watched her scamper out into the hall.  
  
I took a slow assessing look of the bathroom around me. Actually... it wasn't that much different from the gents I guess. Nothing to write home about. But it was cool enough to say I'd just spent five minutes in a the ladies room with my girlfriend. Now if I could just work 'quickie' into that sentence then all my friends would be kissing my feet...  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
The hall was dark when I arrived back in my seat, I remember I nearly tripped up three times on the way there.  
  
The opera had already started and the people were already singing at the top of their lungs. I was almost totally engrossed that I nearly missed when Inuyasha dropped into the seat directly beside me. The one Kikyo had been sitting in. I noticed him, however, when he took my hand and clasped it firmly in his, even while he didn't look at me.  
  
And yet again I failed to notice what he was doing was dangerous. And that his father was watching our hands from only a few seats away. Though it was something we'd dearly pay for later.  
  
*  
  
^_^  
  
*  
  
The last note of the lead female singer warbled and died into an uproar of applause. I joined in and clapped so hard my hands stung, it was only then that I realised wet tears had been leaking from my eyes...  
  
Surprisingly, the play had touched me. Very Romeo and Juliet-esque. Two young love birds divided by country and culture... and in the end their differences hadn't been overcome by the power of love. So basically... it was a sad ending, and it reminded me a lot of my current situation.  
  
I glanced secretly to Inuyasha beside me, to see if he felt the same way... but maybe that was expecting too much. Seeing as he was half asleep. I guess he didn't get Opera like I did.  
  
As the velvet curtain fell over the stage and the lights started to come back on, I found everyone around me beginning to stand up and mooch out of the box. The Arashi's moving to the left side and my family moving to the right.  
  
Me and Inuyasha didn't even get the chance to say goodbye as Sango appeared beside me and began ushering me out along with everyone else. Miroku did pretty much the same thing with Inuyasha.  
  
"Something's up..." Sango whispered in my ear. "The Supei's are being might secretive tonight."  
  
"Sango, you're just paranoid." I told her. "The Supei's are the only normal family here - maybe that's what makes them so weird. But I doubt they're being sneaky..."  
  
"We'll see." Sango said dubiously as we found our way back into the corridor outside and started following the stream of people back towards the main foyer. It had to have been midnight by now, and sitting in a dark hall had made me sort of sleepy... I couldn't wait to just go home and curl up in bed.  
  
But, alas, as we reached the entrance hall, we stopped, along with Arashi's - because just as we were about to leave Mr Supei turned to us and chingled a spoon against his champagne flute. "May I have your attention please?"  
  
Sango instantly stiffened beside me and I suddenly began to feel the dark clouds of suspicion drifting over me. Mr Supei cleared his throat until both families were quiet. I shot a glance to the Arashi's and saw Miroku looking just as tense as Sango, whilst Inuyasha just stood with his arms folded and expression terse... like always. But he looked a little curious as he watched the Supei family head.  
  
"I admit that our gathering tonight had some ulterior motives on my behalf." Supei said with a small chortle.  
  
"I knew it!" I hissed to Sango who rolled her eyes at me.  
  
"I thought it best to announce some rather pleasing news when we were all gathered in one place after partaking in a pleasant activity." He went on. "Me and my family would like to announce that we have come across possession of the Shikon no Tama recently."  
  
A small shocked buzz of surprise went around the gathered crowd. I felt my mouth drop open as I stared at the man in bewilderment.  
  
"We offered it to the museum but they responded that they wished for us to keep it."  
  
"Bull... they stole it..." Sango ground out, darting a resentful look at Naraku and Kikyo.  
  
Now what was going to happen?  
  
"Unfortunately it is not entirely in our possession just yet, but when it is we welcome you all to visit some time and take a look at such a magnificent piece of work from the Sengoku period."  
  
That's right... rub it all in our faces that they had the jewel and we didn't. Sango had left my side temporarily to whisper something quietly to my father, unnoticed by anyone else. She returned only moments later and leaned towards me.  
  
"Your father wants us to spy on the Arashi's estate tonight." She informed me. "He thinks they might know where the jewel is right now."  
  
I glanced across at Mr Arashi who looked unusually smug considering the news he'd just been delivered. I turned back to Sango. "Why don't we just go spy on the Supei's?"  
  
She shook her head. "No way. That place is like a fortress. Only demons would be able to get in that place and spy around... the Arashi's are the only ones who could spy on them. Best if we just rely on the demons to get the info."  
  
I groaned internally. I really just wanted to go to bed, not frolic around demon estates. But if we wanted to win this election we NEEDED that jewel. It was ours by right anyway, seeing as our ancestors made it. The Arashi's would know where it was if they spied on the Supei's tonight. But if we spied on the Arashi's then we would know too. Maybe the information would be a little delayed, but we didn't have much choice.  
  
"Meet at the back of the house at two o'clock ok? Make sure you stay awake." Sango patted my arm compassionately as she saw my tired expression and moved off to follow the rest of crowd as they exited the building. I tottered along behind my mother and father as they whispered frantic urgent things to one another, obviously they were quite upset at the turn of events.  
  
I followed the family outside and searched around discreetly for where Inuyasha might be. I saw he had already left the building before me and was leaning against one of the stone pillars where the reporters had been earlier. They'd all wandered off by now, and the area before the main entrance was pretty much free of flashing camera and people with microphones, now only occupied by guests heading back to their parked vehicles and limousines.  
  
He had something in his hand, and the moment he spotted me looking in his direction he gave a pointed wink and placed whatever he was holding on the floor beside the pillar before walking off. I guessed that was my cue to go see what he'd dropped.  
  
It was a little piece of paper, folded up and scrawled over with his almost illegible handwriting.  
  
"Round the corner... fountains...?" was about all I could make out.  
  
"Kagome?!"  
  
I turned to see my mother waving to me, beside the limo that would take us home. "Are you coming?"  
  
"No - I'll walk home - it's too crowded in there, I just want to clear my head." I called back. She just shrugged and got it. I suppose the average mother would have grabbed me by the ear and dragged me back inside the car instead of let her teenage daughter wonder around the streets of Tokyo at midnight.  
  
But then I didn't really need anyone's protection anymore. I wasn't the average daughter as you might say. I turned and headed away from the crowd of people at the entrance, turning around the edge of the building and out of sight. I followed the footpath until I came to some kind of courtyard, completely desert of life and people, as well as lights. But there was a fountain.  
  
And there was also my boyfriend. The one relatively normal person in my strange life. While I led a double spy life he was just plain old Inuyasha, my anchor to reality.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
*  
  
Kagome's face literally lit up when she saw me, making the dark courtyard seem less darker than before. I loved it when she smiled. She never smiled that way for anyone else... just me.  
  
"Get the note?" I asked as she approached.  
  
"Well at least you didn't drop it in the bin like last time." Her smile widened. "It was disgusting, I had to pick it out to read it and then Sango came up and tapped me on the shoulder - I had to stick it in my mouth and pretend it was gum."  
  
"There was probably gum stuck to it if that helps..."  
  
"Yeah, thanks." She sighed and folded against me as she arrived, my arms automatically moving up to return her lazy embrace. For some reason she wasn't smiling now. "Inuyasha, I'm sick of this... hiding in toilets and having secret meetings isn't my style..."  
  
"But it's the only way." I pointed out. She suddenly stomped her foot and pulled back.  
  
"Well why can't we just ignore what they say?!" she demanded of me. "Why can't we just hang out together with our friends and do NORMAL boyfriend and girlfriend things?"  
  
"Because of the scandal-"  
  
"Sod the scandal!" She said heatedly. "Words will never hurt me - the press can say what they like, I don't care. It's not like they can break us apart of hurt us in anyway."  
  
"It could damage the election next month..." I warned.  
  
"How? How could it damage anything? That's what I'd like to know?" she was off on one of her tirades again. They were usually quite cute, but this time it was serious. "The children of the candidates go to the cinema together - Shock! Let's shoot them!"  
  
"That's just being over-dramatic!" I sighed.  
  
"Then how will our relationship damage anything?"  
  
She didn't understand, perhaps she was too naïve. Or perhaps her family really was better than mine. "Our relationship won't damage anything. It's what our families will do that will damage our chances."  
  
She fell silent as a little light bulb went on in her head.  
  
"If your father finds out, can you honestly say that he'll just sit back and let you date me? Are you so sure he won't try and break us apart?"  
  
"No..." she looked up at me. "But what about you dad?"  
  
"I can guess his reaction would be less than desirable." I told her dryly. "Their attempts to break us up would be press dynamite. Again. They'd look bad and the Supei's will win for sure."  
  
"They might win anyway... they have the Shikon..." I heard her sigh and let her head fall. So she knew about the magic properties of that stone too? Not surprising, considering her best friend was Sneaky Sango.  
  
Miroku was out right that moment, off to search the Supei's estate for the jewel or information alone. They said that only demons would be able to penetrate that place... very skilled demons. But then again Miroku wasn't an ordinary human. He'd manage just fine, and hopefully we'd get the information or the jewel, before the Higurashi's...  
  
Once again it made me feel guilty for Kagome... even when we were together I thought constantly about running her family into the ground.  
  
"I think we're the only sane ones in this crazy world." Kagome went to sit on the edge of the fountain, so I joined her.  
  
"No one must know about us." I stressed. "No one."  
  
"Alright, you're starting to sound like my Dad." She laughed.  
  
"Whatever floats your boat." I caught her chin and leaned in to kiss her quickly on the lips. Just then, her hand lashed out and gave me a push on the chest, sending me cascading backwards into the icy water of the fountain. I gasped like it's just been hit by a thousand wet fish.  
  
"THAT'S for scaring me in the bathroom!" she shouted, though her eyes danced with glee.  
  
"Cow..." I held out my hand for her to pull me out. She just laughed.  
  
"I'm not falling for that one!" she refused to help me out. "You'll pull me in the minute I take your hand."  
  
"No!" I contrived to look innocent... but gave up quickly upon seeing her credulous look. "Ok, yeah I was."  
  
Fortunately I was quicker than she was, and it only took me a few seconds to stand and haul her into the fountain beside me. She screeched as she collapsed into the water below me. She sat up spluttering moments later. "Ew... I think I just swallowed a cigarette butt..."  
  
I sniggered before crouching before her in the water to strip off a dead leaf that was stuck to her shoulder. "You look a state. Your make-ups run."  
  
"Miroku's ran too when he cried at the opera." She giggled softly before looking around. "Well this isn't very hygienic is it?"  
  
Her laughter subsided as I unconsciously reached out to cup her cheek with my cold hand. It was ok, since he cheek was just as cold. In fact she was beginning to shiver. "You cold?"  
  
"Mm." She nodded slightly, eyes locked on mine before her gaze slid down to my lips. She obviously had only one thing on her mind besides getting out and getting warm. Who was I to deny this princess anything she wanted?  
  
I leaned in and brushed my lips tenderly across hers, until she quickly bridge the gap to swoop a full kiss. My hands remained cupping her jaw, controlling the kiss somewhat while her hands bunched in my hair or kneaded my shoulder. Our kisses weren't as hurried as they used to be. Nowadays we felt like we had all the time in the world to be together...  
  
That couldn't have been farther from the truth...  
  
*  
  
^_^  
  
*  
  
I yawned as I stepped through the door into my home. It must have been three in the morning, so undoubtedly everyone would be asleep in bed. That's why I was confused and surprised when I entered the living room to find everyone was still up and the lights were still on.  
  
I stopped in the doorway and looked up in surprise as my family turned like a sea of heads to look at me. Surveying them I could see they were all dressed in their formal wear from the opera...  
  
I searched around for something that would give me the exact time... maybe it wasn't as late as I'd thought... until I realised everything was very quiet and they were all staring at me.  
  
"What?" I asked, looking around at all the blank or accusing faces. My eyes rested on Sesshomaru for a moment, before he turned away in disgust like he couldn't bear to look at me.  
  
"What's going on?" I took a tentative sniff of my clothes... maybe I was putting them all off with my smell of chlorine.  
  
I darted a glance to my father who suddenly stood up and started walking towards me in that skulking way of his. Surprisingly, he look amused, but I knew never to judge how he felt on how he looked. "Very funny... I bet you think you're a bleeding genius."  
  
I'd missed a vital part of the conversation here...  
  
"Leave him be..." one of my Aunts muttered with a sigh.  
  
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" my father demanded, ignoring his sister's soft plea. "Did you think I was too thick to notice - too blind to see?!"  
  
A cold fear clenched my heart, as an eminent feeling of dread and doom passed over me. This was it... what I'd been dreading... The game was up.  
  
"Thought it would be a good laugh to sneak around with a Higurashi girl behind my back, did you?" he laughed harshly, though it was completely without humour. "And don't try and deny you did this just to get back at me!"  
  
"For what?!" I yelled back, feeling anger start to replace that fear. "Why has this always got to be about hate and revenge with you?! Why's it got to have anything to do with you?! This is none of your business!"  
  
"Oh, this is very much my business!" he snarled back. "You're trying to ruin me for petty anger!"  
  
"I'm not angry at you!" well I was right then but that was beside the point. "This is between me and Kagome! You are not involved!"  
  
"Kagome? You call her so familiarly!" he growled. "This is unbelievable! That you would toy with a girl for your own selfish reasons!"  
  
"Like I said - this isn't about hate! This is about love!"  
  
"Shut your mouth!"  
  
"Why?!" I all but shoved past one of my cousins to storm closer to him. "Is 'Love' the new swear word in this house?!" I pointed to one of my youngest cousins, only nine years old. "Quick, Tarou, cover your ears! I said the L word!"  
  
"This isn't a game!" My father stormed a few steps towards me, looking like he was barely restraining from hitting me. "You can't risk so much right now! You're an insult and a disgrace to this family!"  
  
"Funny, maybe that would have more profound affect on me right now if you hadn't told me the same thing when I was seven years old." I snapped harshly, watching his eyes flash dangerously. "Repeatedly!"  
  
"You'll do nothing but bring shame on us with this!" he yelled.  
  
"Nope - heard that one before too!" I shrugged and laughed at his expense. I found nothing funny, I was just wondering how far I could push this. He hated it when he thought he wasn't getting through to me. "Maybe you should try 'Inuyasha, you're the scum of the scum and I knew you were a mistake the moment you were conceived' But oh! That isn't just a threat - that's JUST how you feel - AND you told me that once before!"  
  
"If you don't end this ridiculous relationship then I will personally make sure you never see her again."  
  
Yep, that was my predictable Dad. I had known ages ago that this would be one of his threats if he ever found out. Good thing I'd already thought of ways to counter them. But maybe my mouth ran away with my heart a bit too much this time.  
  
"Why should I end it?" I demanded. "I love her with all of my being - and you should know that outside forces can't destroy someone's love for someone else! Try as much as you like, Dad, but I love her and that will never change. Maybe I'll marry her! Maybe we'll have kids! Would you like that? Would you like to become a grandfather to impure whelps that have more pathetic human blood than strong demon blood?!"  
  
That must have hit a nerve, seeing as he turned his back on me and moved to stand beside the fire place. I was in the heat of things, and I just had to push it further, even though looking back, I really shouldn't have.  
  
I followed him across the room and stood behind him with a nasty sort of smile. "She's a weak human, just like my Mom! But who knows, maybe I'll stick by her long enough and protect her with my life unlike my own father! Maybe she won't die of something pitiful like pneumonia when our first son is only three years old! Maybe I won't let my son grow up in an overcrowded home filled with bullies and brutes!"  
  
I gave him a shove on the shoulder - the first time I'd reached to touch him in seven years. "You got that you blustering old wombat?! I L-O-V-E Kagome - sorry Tarou - and admit it! You're too weak now to even think about interfering in-"  
  
And that's when he snapped. I often tried his patience many times over the years, but this must have been the first time personal, rather untouchable subjects had been brought up. I overstepped the line and I paid for it.  
  
He swung around so fast I didn't see it happen. I did however feel the pain of his fist smashing so hard into my face that lights exploded in my vision before everything went black. I was aware only of someone screaming behind me and the world's balance seemed to tip even as I heard my father continue to bellow at me. But I didn't even feel it when I hit the floor.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
Three in the morning... and while all my normal friends and family were all tucked up in bed, I was out sitting on the garage roof with Sango and her binoculars. I smothered a yawn with my hand and huddled closer into my black jacket, wishing I'd remembered to bring my insulated pink gloves. But Sango had said pink gloves were a big no-no and had made me bring the black ones.  
  
They weren't even cosy mittens.  
  
"Now what they doing?" I asked lamely as Sango continued to watch the Arashi's through the living room window. If I just took the time to look I would find out for myself. But I was finding it very dull and quiet without conversation.  
  
"They're arguing about something..." she said carefully. "I'm trying to lip- read but their backs are all turned this way... and Arashi doesn't keep still... he's like a nervous twitchy mouse..."  
  
"Or dog even?" I offered.  
  
Movement out the corner of my eyes caught my attention and I ducked as I tugged Sango's sleeve. She followed my gaze to the drive. We both sat in complete silence and stillness as we saw a dark figure come up the drive, before he stepped into the light cast by the windows of the estate. I almost breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was Inuyasha. Before I panicked. It was Inuyasha!  
  
If he saw me I was dead... I knew that much...  
  
But no. He passed straight on and went inside without even so much as a glance in our direction. I guess he was too tired to really take too much notice, seeing as we were pretty visible out on the roof.  
  
"Wonder where that one's been..." Sango chuckled to herself and carried on watching through her binoculars. It was a few moments before she suddenly sat up. "Something's happening."  
  
I turned my gaze to the window of the living room and saw Inuyasha had just entered the living room... though not to an entirely friendly welcome. I squinted my eyes as I lay down on my belly beside Sango to try and see better. She handed me the binoculars so I could get a better view before taking something else out to look through.  
  
An argument had started... though I had no idea what it was about. I thought it felt a little wrong to watch Inuyasha argue with his family... like I was infringing on personal ground. But hey! He didn't know I was doing it. It only ever got awkward when they actually knew I was listening to them argue. I think that was the case for everyone.  
  
I could even hear the raised voices now, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sango could probably have lip-read, but their backs were turned to us again... and it became especially difficult to see what was going on when Mr Arashi turned his back on us to stand by the fire place. Inuyasha stormed after him and started tormenting him again by the looks of things, giving his shoulder a push and evidently shouting. He turned briefly to look at something to his side and I caught sight of an arrogant smirk before he turned back to continue badgering his father.  
  
Even I knew at that point Inuyasha was pushing his luck here... if argued this much with my father I'd be grounded so fast I wouldn't know what hit me.  
  
Inuyasha didn't know what hit him either by the looks of things. One minute he was shouting at his father's back, before suddenly Mr Arashi turned and slugged Inuyasha so hard in the face I flinched as I heard a smacking sound, even from outside the room of double glazed windows.  
  
Inuyasha folded like a blanket and tilted backwards until he fell completely out of view. Someone screamed and suddenly variously relatives rushed forward and crouched beside the fallen boy. Mr Arashi continued to yell, so loud that even I could hear the words now.  
  
"DON'T EVER SAY THOSE THINGS AGAIN!"  
  
I doubted Inuyasha would have heard him now...A few people moved out of the way until I could actually see him. He was laid flat on his back while anxious Aunts tried to decide how to help him. His head lolled to the side, giving me a brilliant view of an ugly blue smudge that was already spread across his cheek to his temple. Four red gashes marred with dribbling blood streaked from his temple to his nose... across his right eye...  
  
"Oh god..." I nearly swooned as my head suddenly felt very light. I couldn't believe I'd just witnessed something like this...  
  
Sango couldn't believe her luck, considering she was clicking away with a serious camera. She was grinning as she glanced at me. "This is pure gold! We'll win for sure!"  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
AN: And here comes the plot at last! Sort of... 


	9. To Do The Wrong Thing

AN: Back again... and uh... yeah...  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
To do the Wrong Thing  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
A horrible struggle warred within me all the way home. I'd just witnessed the most horrible act of violence since... since forever! Sure, Gladiator had been pretty violent... but the violence in films was just pretend and all that blood and dying stuff was all fake and make-up. This was real. Inuyasha was hurt... and his own father had done it to him.  
  
I decided then and there that a man like Mr Arashi should and would not be allowed to win this election. A man who could knock his own son out was not the man who should be allowed to run the country.  
  
In all rights, Sango was right to want to publish those pictures she'd obtained. Once the public saw what that horrible man did in his own home, he would never set foot into politics and business again. He'd be lucky if he wasn't ruined.  
  
The Higurashi side of me was glad, gleeful that the Arashi's would lose face, money, and the election. At least we'd be able to come out on top over them after centuries of rivalry between our two families.  
  
But the ME side of me, felt bad. Sango was going to publicise pictures of Inuyasha beaten by his father... how was that going to make him feel when he found out?  
  
I wasn't entirely sure...  
  
If it was me who'd been hit that hard I would be angry... probably frightened. I couldn't be sure since nothing like that had ever happened to me. And I had to remember that Inuyasha was a very different person than me. He was proud... so would he feel embarrassed? Humiliated? Would he want to keep it quiet? Would he WANT those pictures published to destroy his father? Or did this kind of thing happen all the time in his home... and he just wanted to keep quiet about it and brood quietly to himself.  
  
Sango didn't notice how tense and quiet I was as we walked back. She was grinning to herself like a Cheshire cat and drumming her fingers against the invaluable camera resting against her chest.  
  
I didn't know what to do... All I knew was that whatever happened, I didn't want Inuyasha to get hurt. Physically or emotionally.  
  
We got home round about the same time my family was just about getting up... about four o'clock in the morning. I could feel exhaustion creeping over me, but strangely enough I think I was past the point of feeling tired anymore. I guess the shock of what I'd seen was like being doused with water shipped over from the Antarctic, and a double fire burst of caffeine. But not that hyper.  
  
Almost as soon as we got in the house Sango began stripping off her coat and gloves as she toddled across the entrance hall, heading towards one of the corridors that led to my father's office. "Can't wait to see my paycheque by the end of the day!" she said happily as she dumped her gear on one of the side tables against the wall. Then she was gone, in search of my father to tell him the awesome news.  
  
I just stood in the hall, alone and deflated, one problem plaguing my mind... one problem that had too many alternative solutions. I had to pick one. And it had to be the right choice, morally and in the best interests of my family.  
  
I could do nothing. Sango and my father would give the pictures to the press and the story would be out and Mr Arashi would be out of the government before you could say 'domestic abuse'. But that would inevitably be involving Inuyasha... and I wasn't sure that was what he wanted.  
  
I could destroy the pictures... that way everything would remain the same as it was now. We'd still have the Arashi's as rivals for the election... but Inuyasha would still be in a bad situation.  
  
It seemed Inuyasha was the looser no matter how many ways I tried to help.  
  
I glanced across the hall to Sango's gear and saw she'd dumped the camera on top of her coat in her haste to find Dad. I walked over silently and stripped off my gloves so I could handle the piece of equipment with more care. I turned it over in my hands and snapped open the case at the back. The film fell out into my hand, all wound up and ready to be printed.  
  
I stared at it morosely for a moment. If I blew the situation up enough then I could almost literally say the fate of my country rested in the palm of my hand. It wasn't far from true...  
  
What should I do...?  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
*  
  
The alarm clock rang beside my head and I flinched as it seemed especially loud that morning. Blindly I threw a hand out, accidentally knocking the clock over and letting it fall to the floor with a smash.  
  
Well at least the noise stopped.  
  
I sighed and rolled over, trying to scrounge a few minutes more of peace... before I remembered - it was a Saturday! That meant it was my day off! Elation filled me before that quickly sunk away into drowsiness and I started to drift off again.  
  
"Hey, you humungous idiot!" a voice shouted outside my head. "get up already, it's past nine!"  
  
Whoever it was had better leave soon... my head hurt for some strange annoying reason, and that voice was just drilling into my nerves and worsening my headache.  
  
"Inuyasha!" something soft thumped against my arm. "Get up! Don't make me say it again! We need to talk!"  
  
"Go away!" I growled back angrily.  
  
I heard the sound of retreating footsteps and sighed with relief as I tried to settle down again. Well I would have if the curtains hadn't been flung open and strong summer light poured in, making me see red. I groaned irritably and turned over again, and attempted to hide my head under the covers... but then I suddenly discovered it wasn't only the inside of my head that hurt, but the outside too.  
  
I hissed in pain and sat up so quickly my head swam. Miroku's familiar presence arrived beside me and I felt a hand touch my shoulder. "What's the big idea?!" I snapped, shrugging him off.  
  
"Look at your pillow."  
  
That was a strange request... actually, it sounded more like a gentle order. Out of nothing more than curiosity I blinked open my eyes and focused on my pillow. I made a new discovery... half my vision was fill with red, like I was wearing red shades over one eye. And looking down at my pillow, I could see dark brown dried blood stained the white fabric where my head had been resting.  
  
It puzzled me for a few moments, until I raised my hand to my head and tentatively touched the slightly swollen wound around the right side of my brow. The memories of the night before came flooding back. I dropped my hand and stared stonily at the pillow.  
  
Miroku didn't have that mild complacent smile that he usually wore anymore. He was still dressed from head to toe in his black spy kit, looking as unruffled as ever. But he looked slightly grim. "The maid, Emily, told me what happened when I came back."  
  
"What time you come back then?" I asked dully.  
  
"About an hour after they put you to bed." Miroku was looking at me critically. "You look a jolly sight better than you did back then."  
  
"Yeah?" I slipped off the bed and mooched over to take a look at my appearance. I winced slightly at what I saw. Four slim pink lines ran from my temple to my nose, apparently making a path across my eye... which was no long white, but red. No... not a demon characteristic thing. Just a bloody thing.  
  
"You should have seen yourself." Miroku gave a slightly wry smile.  
  
"Oh yeah?" I said again, poking at the think scars that were on their way to disappearing soon.  
  
Miroku turned to my breakfast that consisted of two oranges on a plate and a sharp slicing knife. He picked up one fruit and the knife and held it up. "Say this was your eyeball and this knife was your father's claw..." I glanced over at him through the mirror and saw him slice the orange almost half the way through neatly. He squeezed the orange slightly and juice dripped out onto the floor. He looked up at me and met my blank stare.  
  
"Thanks for demonstrating." I said flatly and looked back at my reflection. My eye was healing... it would probably look normal by tonight. Which was a worry, because I'd already planned a meeting with Kagome that afternoon.  
  
Miroku set down the fruit with a sigh and sat down on the bed. "Want to tell my why your father wound up slugging you?" he asked bluntly. "It wouldn't happen to have involved Kagome in any way could it?"  
  
I didn't say anything. I didn't want to talk about it. I stood up and pointedly headed off into the on-suit bathroom to get changed and washed. Hopefully Miroku would catch the hint... but he's never been good at catching anything.  
  
"You know, just because you're Hanyou doesn't mean you are capable of standing punches off a full blood demon like your father. Whatever you said to him must have pushed him off his limits... But in any case, hitting you like that would be like me hitting a crippled son of mine or something."  
  
"You saying I'm crippled?!" I ground out as I splashed water on my face.  
  
"I'm saying your weaker than he is, and he knew that. He shouldn't have done it."  
  
"Go preach elsewhere monk, this is none of your business."  
  
"Inuyasha, don't be such a big girl's blouse about this." I heard him sigh patiently through the door. "If you're just going to shy away and pretend it didn't happen then I will tease you to the end of your days. You have to go talk to him..."  
  
"Forget it." I barged out the bathroom fully clothed, surprising him as I brushed past him. "I go talk to him now then I'll just wind up with another black eye. That's how it will always be from now on."  
  
"That's a little extreme thinking don't you think?" Miroku frowned at me as I grabbed my bag from under the bed and snatched my black shades and cap from the bed stand.  
  
"Whenever we talk, we fight. Whenever we fight we usually just yell. But I said some stuff that really pissed him off..." I paused a moment as I reached the door. "...and now that I know how deeply they affect him... I won't hesitate to say them again in the same situation."  
  
"One question." Miroku stopped me before I left through the door. "Is it true? What you said about Kagome?"  
  
"Which part?"  
  
"The part where you said you loved her?" I glanced back to see Miroku was watching me with concern.  
  
I didn't know how to answer. So I just walked out and slammed the door in my wake.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
I fidgeted nervously with the strap of my watch as I anxiously looked around me for some sort of sign of his arrival. All around me there were people sitting around outside the café in little white chairs next to little white tables with the parasol umbrellas up to shield them from the sun. it seemed unusually hot today... so I'd come in a floaty light little blue dress. My hair was tied up to stop me being recognised, and I wore shades to help with that as well. It didn't look too strange since everyone else were wearing sunglasses too.  
  
Though I had to admit I was wearing them to hide the bags under my eyes.  
  
Then I saw him coming down the street and my heart leapt into fast gear. It wasn't because I was pleased to see him. If anything I was scared.  
  
He saw me and smiled, but I failed to remember to smile back. I was too busy drinking in his appearance to check for flaws. His ears were hidden under that black baseball cap, and his hair was tied in a way that made it look half as long as it used to be. Annoyingly, he was wearing shades too, and I couldn't see any damage that may have been inflicted the previous night.  
  
"Hey," he arrived by my side and leaned down swiftly to press a quick kiss against my unresponsive lips, before taking his seat opposite me. "Nice day, huh? They say it could be the start of a late heat wave."  
  
I stared at him, trying to coax my brain into gear. I didn't understand... the last time I'd seen him he'd been flat out on his back unconscious with the ugliest wound that had nearly made me throw up on the garage roof. And now here he was, smiling and talking about the weather only ten hours later.  
  
I'd heard demons healed fast, but this was amazing.  
  
"Sango was at your house last night." The words slipped from my mouth before I could really register them in my brain. I almost jumped when I finished saying them.  
  
Inuyasha's pleasant expression slipped dramatically. He stared at me in complete silence, made unnerving by the fact that I couldn't see his eyes to see how he felt... not that I would have got much anyway. Seeing as he wasn't saying anything I dug hurriedly into my bag and pulled out the film, slapping it on the table between us. "She had a camera. She got everything."  
  
He understood me perfectly, that's as much as I got. He stared at the film for quite a while before he started to reach out for it. I was quick, and snatched it out of his reach before he touched it. His eyes snapped back up to me and I would have sworn he was glaring.  
  
"She told me... what happened..." I said slowly, clenching my fingers around the little capsule. "Inuyasha... this stuff could ruin your father..."  
  
"Give them to me!" he snapped, slapping the back of his hand against the table in a demand. I glanced down at his hand nervously before looking back up at his face. The last thing I wanted to do was make him mad at me, but I was struggling to hold my plan together. I couldn't give the film to him.  
  
"You want to destroy this?" I held up the film, trying to harden my resolve.  
  
"Give them!"  
  
"I can't. We have to think about this." I closed the film close to my lap and stared at him hard. "You father hurt you... these pictures could be used against him. What he did was wrong, you don't have to get rid of these... your father shouldn't get away with what he did to you - maybe the best way to deal with this is to give these to the police-"  
  
"Why? So you and your family can win the election?" he suddenly snorted.  
  
Anger ticked slightly under the surface of my concern for his welfare. "No... this isn't about the election, or politics. This is about your safety."  
  
"I don't need protection!" he snapped at me.  
  
"Does he do this to you often?" I asked, needing to know. "Inuyasha, it can't go on like that!"  
  
"It won't. It happened once. We both have friction, it's nothing new! We just got carried away."  
  
"You nearly lost an eye!" I cried, reaching forward impulsively and yanked his glasses off. I had to refrain from cringing when I saw the damage. The whites of his right eye had turned the colour of blood and four pink lines stretched across his face.  
  
"It was an accident." I said evenly.  
  
"No it wasn't. He meant to hit you."  
  
"How would you know? You weren't there!" he growled.  
  
I had to bite my tongue to keep from correcting him. I changed my tactics. "I don't care if he did this once or a thousand times - like I said - he shouldn't get away with this! Aren't you angry?!"  
  
Inuyasha gave an impatient sigh and turned away.  
  
"Are you scared of him?" I guessed.  
  
"No!" he swung back to face me, half livid. "He's all bark and no bite! He's a gas bag! He'd harmless."  
  
"If I'd been hit that hard I'd be dead. As would any normal human..." I tried to reason as I held up the film. "Get your own back - publish these!"  
  
He shook his head firmly. "Not a chance."  
  
"Why? Are you embarrassed? Worried what people will think of you?!" I demanded.  
  
He was clearly beginning to get flustered. "No!"  
  
"Then what?!" I cried.  
  
"Because if those hit the papers then my family will lose the election and the Higurashi's will win!" he snarled. "I can't allow that."  
  
I fell silent as I stared at him in meek surprise. He didn't want my family to win... even at the cost of his own safety. The fact that my family would benefit hadn't even crossed my mind throughout this discussion...  
  
After all this time our family names were still an ever present barrier between us.  
  
"Is that all?" I asked quietly.  
  
He glared stonily at me.  
  
I looked down at the film in my hands, for once it hit me just how much damage this could cause him and his family, and how much me and my family would thrive off it. I could just toddle off home right now and knock the Arashi's out the running with amazing ease. Our dance to victory would be a waltz...  
  
I looked back up at him, seeing he was still watching me warily waiting for me to get up and run home with the film. I clenched my jaw and suddenly snapped the capsule open and tore out the film inside with a jerk. The brown negatives were exposed to the strong light of the sun and any images that had been on them, were lost and ruined.  
  
I dropped the mess before him and stood up, hooking my bag over my shoulder. "If that's all you care about then I won't try and help you. You can deal with your father by yourself. As of now, you're alone."  
  
"Kagome-" he started to stand with me.  
  
"It's clear that despite your little speech about how our family names mean nothing, you still believe otherwise, you little hypocrite. If that's how you feel then I guess we should call it a day. I don't want to see you again."  
  
The words sounded strong and forbidding... but inside my heart was breaking, and I knew it showed in my voice. He looked just as lost as I felt. But all he seemed to think about was the rivalry between our families. He still wanted to beat us at all costs... and even though his father had hurt him, he was still willing to fight me all for the name of 'Arashi' - 'Storm'. He was just as dark and angry as his name implied.  
  
I turned and started to walk away, waiting for him to call out and stop me. Half hoping he would stop me and try and make it up to me. I half believed that if he'd called my name at that moment then I would have run crying back into his arms. But he said nothing, until I was so far away from the café that I wouldn't be able to hear him anyway.  
  
Just out of sheer hope I looked back over my shoulder. He'd donned his glasses and was walking off in the other direction, looking like he had no more cares in the world.  
  
I think we all knew who'd come out the loser in this little battle between Higurashi and Arashi...  
  
Me...  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
*  
  
She walked away so fast I was left in shock. My voice had frozen up in surprise at her actions. She'd just sacrificed the film... sacrificed her families ticket to winning the election... and then within the space of ten seconds had dumped me and flounced off.  
  
I couldn't speak... even if she'd stayed I wouldn't have been able to speak. I just watched her walk away, wishing she would just turn around... turn around... turn around and look at me... please?  
  
She didn't. In true diva style she swept away with her nose high, looking like she wouldn't look back in regret at this decision. She disappeared into the crowds and I lost sight of her.  
  
I looked back down at the film on the table, crumpled and ruined... no one would be able to salvage those pictures now. She confused me... I didn't understand her compassionate and unlimited generosity. Nice guys finished last. That's what they said. And maybe it was true now. She'd thrown away a wonderful chance and put her family at risk of losing to us again.  
  
I snatched my shades up and slipped them on as I turned to head back home, dwelling on all this.  
  
She'd asked if I was scared of my father... I wasn't. And I never would be. Then she'd asked if I was angry... yes, I was very angry. So angry I had contemplated perhaps stabbing my father in the back while he went over his studies. Seriously. I'd stopped by his office door on the way out of the house to come here... Kitchen knife in hand...  
  
It wouldn't have killed him. It was virtually impossible to kill that moron with the normal methods. It would hurt like hell though and would seriously piss him off. In the end I'd returned the knife to the kitchens like a coward... but I didn't want to make things worse just yet.  
  
Then she'd hit upon the truth. I didn't want people to know my father had done this to me. I was stronger than that... one punch wouldn't fell me. I had a reputation, and I didn't want people's pitying eyes as they passed me on the street. I didn't want to punish the rest of my family either for my father's mistake, which would inevitably happen if those photos were released. Not all of them were so bad...  
  
I hadn't wanted her to know that fear... so I'd struck out at another obvious excuse. That I didn't want the Higurashi's to get the upper hand.  
  
On hind sight, that had been a foolish decision. Kagome probably hated my guts... she didn't want to see me again.  
  
I had no choice but to go home and stand beside the knife rack, wondering whether or not I should just stab him in the back or decapitate him for real. I tried to ignore it... but that hit had hurt more that it looked.  
  
He would NOT get away with this. I wouldn't let him.  
  
*  
  
^_^  
  
*  
  
Ok, so my plan for pay back wasn't completely formed yet, but I was still smoulderingly angry beneath my calm exterior at supper that evening. I didn't bother to try and hide the evidence of the wound on my face. It had healed a little more, but it still looked nasty and had made one of the little cousins cry. I boldly sat down near my father's place at the table and ignored the worried glances everyone cast me. I made sure that my right side was facing him, so he could take a nice big look at what he'd done.  
  
And what made me even madder was that he didn't even have the decency to look sorry, let alone apologise.  
  
Supper went by very quietly. My anger at my father increased until I had to vent it in some way. Even if it was in a very small way.  
  
"Stop slurping your food. You sound like a pig, Dad." I commented breezily as I delicately sipped at the soup in my spoon.  
  
I saw him glower at me through the corner of my eye. "What did you just say to me?" he asked.  
  
The relatives around us scooted away further. Miroku, who was sat on my left was discreetly kicking my feet under the table.  
  
"Nothing." I said with a shrug and we went back to eating. But I wasn't done yet. "Don't you just love chicken and mushroom sou - oh! Sorry! I said the L word again..." I snapped my fingers and shook my head. "I really must watch my tongue."  
  
Miroku set his spoon down with a clatter and inhaled deeply, obviously annoyed with me.  
  
"I'd agree. You better watch your tongue." My father said with venom tingeing his voice.  
  
I regarded him with a mild gaze. "I wonder who will sock who first this time...?"  
  
"Just ignore him. He hasn't had his brain food yet." Miroku said quickly to my father.  
  
"Nah - had that this morning. Maybe that tap on the noggin knocked a few screws loose!" he rapped a knuckle against my head with a dim sort of smile. "Yep. Something definitely knocking about in there. Either teeth or two brain cells."  
  
My father continued to glare at me.  
  
"What's the matter? Aren't I pissing you off enough today?" I said daringly. "Maybe I should talk more about Mom. That seems to get you started off."  
  
At once my father pushed his seat back and rose angrily to tower over me. "Why won't you just learn to keep your mouth shut?" he said with controlled fury.  
  
"Well usually it's the mother who teaches her son patience, manners and mouth-shutting techniques." My gaze turned sour as I glared at him. "Thanks to you, I lost mine at a young age. You kind of broke the merchandise before I had a chance to use her."  
  
"How dare you speak of her that way! She's your mother!" he still loved her. It was pathetic really. I didn't feel a thing towards her.  
  
"Haw dare YOU speak of her at all!" I challenged, rising to my feet as well as people shifted nervously in their seats. "You killed her!"  
  
"I never killed her! She died of pneumonia!"  
  
"Bull! She died of a broken heart because she found out you were playing around with your red head secretary!" I snapped. "You're lucky she died - otherwise the press would have found out and you wouldn't be in a position to run for prime minister today!"  
  
His fist drew back, but I knew it was already coming. I leaned back to avoid the swipe, and various relatives gasp and rose to their feet as well. I don't know why. That was a lame throw. It wouldn't have even bruised Miroku. But given the excuse, I lunged for my chance.  
  
I drew my own fist back and with a heated surge of strength born of anger and pleasure at finally being able to do this, I slugged him hard across the jaw, making his head snap to the side. It was a weak throw compared to his. It wouldn't bruise and it didn't knock him down. But I was still satisfied.  
  
He turned back to me slowly, locking glares with me. All of a sudden he grabbed my sleeve and started dragging me out of the dining room.  
  
"What? We gonna duke it out outside?" I laughed, knowing it wasn't what was about to happen. "Me and you old man - you'll be down in the dirt in five seconds!"  
  
We reached the front door and I was almost literally thrown out of the house. I stumbled down the steps and lost my balance, landing unceremoniously on my behind. I glared up at him. "Oh this is great! Kicking your own son out of the house! Where are the black bin bags with my clothes? Or did you forget to pack them this time?!"  
  
"Get out and don't come back till I'm calm again!" He yelled and slammed the door.  
  
The anger welled up again in my throat, along with some old emotion that I hadn't felt much since I was a child. "Yeah?! Well fuck you!" I stood up and wrenched the head off one of the statues beside the entrance. I threw it at the door and watched it bounce of despite being stone. "Maybe I won't come back - Asshole!"  
  
I stood fuming before I stormed away, out of the drive and into the streets. Only then did it hit me that I had no where to go.  
  
I remembered what that old emotion was. Something akin to pain... pain of being alone. Kagome was gone... and now I was really alone.  
  
And as if to compensate for the tears I wouldn't shed, the skies opened up and started to pour down.  
  
Or it could have just been the fates frowning down on me and making a bad day just that much worse.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
I'm an evil cow... a horrible person. I'd just said all those nasty things and flounced off...  
  
Where was Inuyasha right now? Was he with his father, reconciling, or - in more Inuyasha style - making a bad situation just that much more bad. I sat at my desk and stared at my hands. I wanted to see him again, to speak to him. I'd go find him tomorrow and plead my case. Hopefully we'd all have calmed down by then and we'd be able to work things out.  
  
I just prayed he was out.  
  
A rumble in the clouds outside made me look up and out of my window into the bleak black darkness outside. The pitter patter of rain on the window started, until it was eventually pelting it down with rain so hard that a sheen of water covered the window completely smearing the darkness into one big blob.  
  
I sighed and stood up to turn off my lamp and get into bed. I suddenly stopped as I caught sight of some movement outside my window. I couldn't quite see, so I moved round my desk to all but press my nose against the glass.  
  
It was Inuyasha.  
  
He was stood on the flat tiles on the roof ledge below my window, a few metres away, but roughly at eye level with me. I stared in complete shock at him, trying to figure out what he was doing out there.  
  
He wore nothing but the summer shirt he'd been wearing earlier, as well as the same trousers. Where was his coat? Wasn't he cold? Then I found myself locking gazes with him, and I could see how confused and lost he seemed.  
  
"No..." I shook my head with a laugh. "No - you are not coming in here. What will my parents say?"  
  
He probably couldn't hear a word I said. Even I barely heard what I said over the din of the rain.  
  
"You cannot just come strolling up here expecting to be let in - I dumped you remember!" how easy it was to turn picky when he was the one crawling back, not me.  
  
He continued to watch me, probably trying to work out what I was saying. Right then I just caved with a defeated sigh. I couldn't just leave him out there and pretend I was asleep. I started opening the window and saw him immediately come forward to come inside. I had to stand well clear as he slipped through the window and moved to stand in the middle of the room. I closed the window, trying to avoid getting hit by the rain, which was pretty hard.  
  
I turned back to him and waited for the explanation as to why he was here. What had happened and why he was out in the rain at this hour. But he said nothing. I moved over to him and gently took his arm. "You're soaking wet..."  
  
He barely even nodded. Something serious was wrong, but he wasn't going to talk about it, so there was no point in pushing it. "It's ok... you don't have to tell me... just take your shoes off..."  
  
With some gentle coaxing I managed to get him out of his shoes and managed to get him to take off his shirt. His hair was plastered to his skin and he was shivering slightly. I immediately went to fetch a towel and wrapped it around his shoulders before guiding him to the bed. He lay down without too much protest and I laid with him, keeping a hand firmly clutched against his towel so it wouldn't slip off.  
  
"It's ok... you're with me now..." I touched his cold damp cheek and saw him close his eyes.  
  
He could sleep here... and maybe we'd talk in the morning. But until then I felt important in the one keeping his safety. I loved him, so I'd do anything to help him.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
AN: And now I'm done... what else to say... 


	10. True Identity True Feelings

AN: So many detentions these days - I'm dodging them left and right! Who would have thought you'd get into trouble for calling a teacher a hypocritical sadist? You learn new things every day...  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
Rules of Acquisition  
  
True identity. True feelings.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
*  
  
There was something pleasant about waking up with someone else close beside you. I wasn't exactly what you'd call the sentimental and romantic type of guy, but after being shoved around repeatedly by people who just didn't care...it was nice to just be this close to someone who did.  
  
She was still asleep... and it was only now that I realised how much like an angel she was. If not in appearance than in her nature. I really hadn't been sure what kind of greeting I would get when I went there. She'd just broken up with me rather heatedly... and I was sure she would still be mad at me. But even though I turned up out of no where she let me in... gave me her bed and didn't demand explanations.  
  
I had to have been the luckiest guy on the planet... if you just ignored all that not-so-lucky stuff that had been happening recently. I didn't deserve her... but then again, maybe just being the pathetic looser I am made the powers that be take pity on little old me. I'd been a fool to nearly let her slip away... if she'd been anyone else she would have just locked her window and let me rot.  
  
I was such a fool...  
  
I tightened my hold around her and brought her closer against me, feeling her sigh softly against my collar bone as she shifted to get comfortable in the new position. Light was beginning to filter through the window behind me, the rain on the glass making each drop shine like a diamond. She would wake up soon... making me wonder if she would demand questions when she did. I didn't want to answer questions just yet... I just wanted to hold her in my arms. Right then, in that bed, the problems in the universe beyond that bedroom didn't matter. They didn't exist, and I didn't have to worry about them. Yet.  
  
But who needed a family like mine when I had Kagome? She accepted me no matter what. And yeah, my father isn't exactly the best specimen for sentient kindness, seeing as he would happily kick me out the front door for the sake of an argument about a dead woman. But what about the rest of my family? Note the lack of people who stood up and thwapped Dad on the head and told him to stop being so stupid and irrational? No one in that household stood up to him, no one argued with him when he knocked me about... the most they did was just stick me in bed and hope for the best. No plaster or bandage to go with that slither of consideration.  
  
They were heartless pigs, every single one of them. I felt no attachment towards any of them. I was just waiting to get a big enough salary from the hospital so I could move out of that hell hole and start climbing the career ladder. It might help on application forms if I could say I was the son of the Prime Minister though...  
  
"...Mm... peanut butter... n' Jellyfish..." Kagome muttered against my chest as she began to come out of her deep state of unconsciousness.  
  
I absently stared at the wall behind her as one hand played with a lock of her hair, smoothing it between my fingers. My other hand was acting almost on a will of it's own - doing a 'Miroku' as some might call it. Nothing too bad like the monk, but it roamed idly from resting against her hip, to sliding across her back softly before smoothing down the length of her arm. She was a short sleeved pyjama top with matching shorts, seeing as it was late summer and all. My hand slowed against the soft skin of her exposed arms, taking in the unbelievably smooth. She must have used some kind of cream or something, because I could have sworn none of my skin was that tender.  
  
Then my fingers swept against a raised welt on her inner arm and I felt her twitch in pain in her sleep. That got my attention, and I looked down with a frown to see what the problem was.  
  
Oh yeah... that healing scab along her forearm, I'd forgotten about it. I'd seen it the other night at the opera hall, and she'd lied about how she'd gotten it. I don't know why she lied, but she had. She was always really obvious when she lied. If she talked normally her eyes were bright and she often smiled, even if she talked about injuries or other kinds of experiences that most people wouldn't smile about. But when she told lies her eyes dulled somehow and she didn't smile, like she was trying hard to school her expression from revealing too much.  
  
She'd acted too casual about it.  
  
Looking at it now... I couldn't help but feel a slightly nagging feeling of familiarity with the wound. It was very much like a wound I had seen recently... like a wound that had been on my face.  
  
A cold rush of surprise shot through me as my brain made the association. But there was no doubt about it. A clean straight cut like that couldn't have been made by frayed wire in a library. It had to have been made with a knife of a claw - but considering it was a slightly curved line - like she'd been slashed, I'd say she'd either been attacked by a knife wielding maniac or a demon with claws. But why wouldn't she tell me the truth?  
  
I stared at the injury on her arm, trying to figure out why she would keep the truth from me? I mean... it wasn't me who made the cut, I would have known about it. So that ruled me out of suspects. But who else could have done it? She didn't know any other demons did she? She didn't get into a fight with her father did she?  
  
No, wait, that was just my kinda thing.  
  
It hadn't been me accidentally... had it?  
  
I frowned in concentration as I tried to think back. No... I'd never cut her... the only thing that came close to cutting someone on the arm accidentally had been that time I'd fought with that mystery Higurashi spy. I hadn't really been aware of it at the time. I'd cut her without realising, and only when I took my gloves off, I realised in the fight one of my claws had cut through the material, the tip stained dark brown with scentless blood.  
  
Realisation slowly crept up on me like a shadow being cast over my mellow mood. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as a loosened my hold on the girl in my arms. I slowly looked down at her peaceful face, and then back at the cut on her arm.  
  
I'd done it to her. I'd cut her, attacked her and nearly beat her senseless. Deliberately. God, I could have killed her...  
  
It made such perfect sense now. All the missing, annoying pieces of the puzzle that had alluded me before now all slotted together in the correct pattern. The mystery girl who always hung around with Sango at night... I could never find her companion during the day, even though she'd been right under my nose the whole time. Who else could it have been other than Kagome?  
  
The girl in the night had been only slightly skilled... she'd fumbled like an amateur, but she'd compensated for her lack of experience through strange, slightly creepy powers I'd assumed belonged to a witch. No... not a witch... a miko...  
  
It made sense. Her family was descended of mikos since ancient times, though none of the other Higurashi's had displayed such powers since Midoriko...  
  
It was hard to take in and my head was beginning to spin as I slowly started to untangle myself from her arms. She only tightened her hold, and in slight panic I hurriedly tried to extract myself, my sudden movements rousing her from her sleep.  
  
"... What...?" Kagome inhaled deeply as she began to sit up as my warmth left her side. She rubbed a hand over her face and tried to focus bleary eyes on me. "Mornin'..."  
  
Footsteps sounded outside in the hall, they were too fast for me to hide before the door crashed open, revealing a rather out of breath looking Sango, clutching an injured arm. She had her fevered gaze locked on Kagome in an instant. "Kagome - we have a... serious..." she trailed off as he gaze found me, backing off the bed, away from Kagome. "...problem..."  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
I was completely confused when I woke up. Some luxurious warmth had just left and a draughty cold suddenly filled its place. I shivered and began to sit up, wondering what the heck that warmth had been anyway. Then I remembered... it was Inuyasha. But why was he getting up so quickly? Didn't demon's get headrushes too? Those things were a pain...  
  
"...What...?" I muttered thickly as I half attempted to stretch out the kinks in my arms before lamely trying to rub the sleep the sleepy muzz from my face. I smiled in greeting at Inuyasha, too unfocused to really notice the panicked look he was giving me. "Mornin'..."  
  
Ah... here was my headrush! I really shouldn't have sat up so soon.  
  
Suddenly the door burst open without any warning and bounced against the wall behind it. I was still too muggy to really be surprised, or register the fact that anyone walking into my room right then would immediately draw the bad conclusion.  
  
"Kagome - we have a... serious..." She trailed off and I glanced across at her to see her staring openly at Inuyasha. "... problem..."  
  
It hit me right then that this could turn quite nasty. I darted cautious looks between Sango and Inuyasha, watching them stare at each other, waiting for one or the other to speak.  
  
"I was just..." Inuyasha gestured to the bed, at a loss for adjectives.  
  
"I know... Miroku said you were... out..." She said quietly, staring at him with a strangely vacant expression. After a moment she seemed to jerk out of her surprise as she turned to me and cleared her throat. "Um... talk to me later... I'll be in the kitchen..."  
  
She darted Inuyasha one last look before walking out again, her hands too full with holding her damaged arm to close the door again. I stared after her a moment before sliding off the bed to shut the door slowly before turning back to Inuyasha, about to speak, but the words I was about to say disappeared from my mind as I realised he was rather hurriedly getting dressed.  
  
"You're going?" I asked tentatively.  
  
"I shouldn't have come here." He answered curtly, jerking his shirt down over his head.  
  
Ouch... that was a little harsh. "Aren't you at least gonna tell me what's wrong?"  
  
He didn't answer and his expression remained fixed in an angry frown. He tugged his hair out from where it was trapped down his shirt and went to find his boots. I just watched him move, at a loss for what to do. Had he been drunk last night or something? Didn't he plan on coming here? Was that why he was so hasty to leave now? Maybe the argument we'd had the day before was still fresh in his mind... maybe he wanted to have been dumped.  
  
"Did you run away from home or something?" I asked, remembering Sango's previous hint.  
  
"It doesn't matter." He snapped.  
  
"It does to me!" I started forward, standing over where he sat on the bed tying his laces. "Did you just come here to sleep with me or did you come to make up with me?"  
  
His hands stilled over the knots he was tying. Staring at his face I could see his expression turn even stormier. "Neither. It was a mistake, I shouldn't have come here."  
  
"So..." I struggled for words as he finished putting his shoes on. I had to delay him some more, I just didn't understand what he wanted from me. "So... you don't want to make up... with me...?"  
  
He shrugged and headed towards the window, the epitome of apathy. My heart squeezed in my chest as he jerked the window open and swung out through the opening to the roof terrace below.  
  
I ran to the window after him. "Is that it? Is that all you came for?!" I yelled, trying to keep from sounding hysterical.  
  
He was all but running away, dropping down from the roof below and out of sight without an answer. Tears welled up in my eyes and a lump formed angrily in my throat, threatening to choke me. "Fine!" I screamed after him, sure he could still hear me. "Be that way! I don't want you either you big jerk! Go screw yourself!"  
  
I slammed the window shut so hard the glass shuddered and threatened to shatter. I didn't care. I just stomped to my bed and grabbed my pillow, angry enough to try and vent the steam before it consumed me. Taking the pillow in one hand I hurled it around and threw it with all my might against the wall beside the window. It hit with a flop and flopped onto my desk, knocking over a few pen holders and an empty cola can.  
  
It didn't help. Perhaps it would have been more satisfying to throw something that shattered on impact. Like that glass on the bed stand!  
  
I picked it up in the heat of the moment, half blind with tears and angry rage. I pulled my hand back and was about to launch the glass at the wall, when the anger suddenly dissipated... I didn't have the gall to do something that bawdy.  
  
God... I was too chicken to throw a stupid glass...  
  
I set it back down in the bed stand and stood trembling with silent tears running down my cheeks. How could he play with me like this...? Maybe he really didn't care after all...? Maybe all I was, was a pretty face with a stupid last name... some toy to mess around with until he was bored. Then it was fun to drop me without a backward glance.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Inuyasha~  
  
*  
  
I had to get out of there. And fast. The longer I stayed and looked at her the more aware I became of that increasing pain in my chest. In a relationship... as good as best friends... and unwittingly we were out to destroy each other. She was my enemy...  
  
My breath was coming a little short as I all but bolted out of the Higurashi estate, taking a covered route so I wouldn't be seen by anyone else. I kept telling myself that the reason why I was dizzy was because of the charms and ofuda spells caking the place...  
  
But I knew from experience that ofuda charms didn't make the heart ache like this.  
  
I didn't stop running until I found myself by the docks. It was quite a good distance from Kagome's home... but I still felt the need to run away. From what? Was it normal to be this confused? I wanted to run some more... but there was no more places to run to other than back the way I had come. That wasn't an option.  
  
The ships clanged and blared their horns in the distance in the harbour, and beneath the wall and rail I leaned on, the beach stretched on for quite some distance. It was going to be a fine day, even after last night's rain, so soon this place would be flocking with people out to catch a bit of summer sun.  
  
But right then it was as good as deserted. That was ok, I guess... I didn't want to be around any crowds right then. I just folded onto the floor and gripped the steel poles of the rail while I dangled my legs over the edge. My heart was still thundering, even though it shouldn't have been. Maybe I had a heart condition like Mom? Maybe if I wasn't careful I'd die of something lame too...  
  
It was strange how even in the most stressful moments, you still had time to wonder about the trivial things. Like how long that bill board advertising toilet paper had been up there...?  
  
With a half sigh, half groan I let my forehead rest against the cold metal of the rails, closing my eyes in an effort to block out the world with at least one of my senses. Just to help I covered my ears with my hands and breathed through my mouth to rid myself of the tangy smell of sea salt.  
  
Kagome... innocent, sweet, naïve Kagome was a spy... like Miroku, like Sango... like me in a way. I couldn't really be angry at her... I had no right to be angry. But I was.  
  
How dare she do this? Risk her life and her innocence?! Exploit herself so her father could profit...  
  
Ok, that made her sound like a prostitute or something... that wasn't how I saw her though. It just made me sad, if truth be told. The one normal person in my life was twice as strange as me.  
  
Of course, there was always that excruciating guilt that I'd hurt her - deliberately. Twice I'd met her when she was masking her face and scent... twice I hadn't felt any inhibitions about beating her. Both times she'd escaped serious injury... but what about the next time? What if we'd met a third time and I hadn't known she was who she was... what if I'd hurt her more than just scraping her arm.  
  
"Shit..." I whispered with feeling.  
  
Well there wouldn't be any more risk from then on. I didn't want to help my father anymore... and I didn't want to help the Higurashi's either. Nor the Supei's. I'd had it up to my ears with politics and scandal and press and rumours. I wanted out and I was going to GET out of this.  
  
I wouldn't be going home again. Not ever.  
  
*  
  
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*  
  
~Kagome~  
  
*  
  
Sango was in the kitchen, bandaging her arm carefully using her right hand and her teeth to guide the clean material. She looked up when I came in, at once I recognised her dubious expression.  
  
"Thought you weren't ever going to get up." She commented as I sat down with a dull air, like the lump of useless mass that I was. She finished tying off the bandage and began putting away the first aid kit.  
  
"What happened to your arm?" I asked automatically.  
  
"I had a run in with Miroku..." she said quietly.  
  
I stared at her, my eyes still felt strange after having cried for so long and hard. "He hurt you?" I guessed.  
  
"No - I beat him into the ground." She said with a hint of cocky pride. "I did this number by falling down the stairs."  
  
"You genius."  
  
"Just call me Professor Sango." She sighed and sat down at the table opposite me. She went quite suddenly and just stared at me like she usually did when she either wanted money off me or wanted something more scandalous... like gossip. "So... what was with the Arashi in your room this morning?"  
  
I'd expected the question, and I'd been preparing myself for answering. But it still felt like a punch in the gut. "We weren't doing anything... we just slept..."  
  
"So that's why he was shirtless?" Sango gave me an amused look.  
  
"He got caught in the rain!" I said defensively.  
  
"Relax, Kagome. I don't believe for a minute that you even made it past first base. Seeing as you still had you pyjamas on and everything." She clasped a glass of orange juice she'd been drinking from and took a sip. "I doubt you'd bother getting primly dressed after doing anything dodgy... unless you really are a prude."  
  
"Thanks." Sango was not helping. "You said you had a serious problem."  
  
"Mm!" Sango set down her glass with a thump. "I know where the Shikon jewel is!"  
  
That got my dim attention for the first time that morning. "For real?"  
  
"Yeah. It's being held by a jewellery dealer on the other side of Tokyo." Sango rattled off. "Unfortunately that place is even harder to get into than the Supei's place - so we have to wait a while.  
  
"Wait? What for?" I leaned forward in case I misheard anything.  
  
"The beads going to be transported from the dealers place, where Kikyo and Naraku dropped it off for safe keeping, to the Supei's estate. While it's being transported it'll be vulnerable to abduction."  
  
She made it sound like aliens were involved somewhere. "How do you know this?"  
  
"Miroku told me." She said simply. "So on Tuesday the 23rd of June, the Shikon no Tama is going to be transported in an armoured vehicle down the main motorway through Tokyo and then down the main street in Giiza. As it passes through Giiza the speed limit drops and then it'll be moving at it's slowest - that's when we'll strike."  
  
"We?" I echoed. "You want me to help I suppose...?"  
  
"Of course!" she grinned at me. "Come on - tackling an armoured van at thirty miles an hour is a doddle."  
  
I tried hard not to choke on my own spittle. "What?!"  
  
"It's ok - I'll make the diversion - you do that voodoo invisibility thing and we're away!" Sango smiled. "Miroku's having a bash at it as well - but he's taking the 'safe' method of stealing it."  
  
"Safe?" I asked.  
  
"Well instead of intercepting the vehicle he plans to use all sorts of gizmos probably..." Sango gave a dull roll of her eyes. "You know boys and their toys."  
  
"Boys and their toys..." that reminded me of other things.  
  
Sango stared at me. "What are you, a parrot today?"  
  
"Sorry..." I sighed and rubbed my eyes that were becoming suspiciously moist again. "It's just..."  
  
Sango's smile faded from her face as she realised what I was trying to stop from happening. "Kagome?" she stood up and moved around the table to lean over me. "Are you ok? What's wrong? What happened?"  
  
Her questions only seemed to make my chest squeeze even more painfully. "It's..." should I tell her...?  
  
"Go on..." she rubbed my back comfortingly.  
  
It tipped the balance and I began to break down into small floods of tears. "It's Inuyasha... h-he left me... j-just a game to him!"  
  
I felt Sango's arms close tightly around me and I accepted her embrace greedily, trying to gain some comfort. It didn't work as well as I hoped. She wasn't Inuyasha... she didn't have his strong shoulders, firm chest... or his unique smell of pine and washing powder. But I was going to have to settle for less than him now.  
  
"I heard from Miroku..." Sango said hesitantly. "Inuyasha left last night... he didn't go back. Miroku called a few minutes earlier asking if I'd seen him... he still hasn't gone back home yet."  
  
"What did you tell him?" I hiccuped.  
  
"I told him he was with you." She answered firmly. "I didn't need to lie..."  
  
"That's ok..."  
  
Sango pulled away to look at me seriously. "It was you who took the film wasn't it?"  
  
I gulped and averted my gaze. I'd almost forgotten about that - though I was sure it was be a fresh thorn in Sango's side for a while.  
  
"Right?" Sango pressed.  
  
"Yeah..." I sniffed.  
  
She sighed heavily and enveloped her arms carefully around me again. "It's ok... I understand."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"No... but I will one day." She said tightly, giving me a light squeeze. "Don't worry about it, it wasn't that important."  
  
I had a feeling she was still fibbing. That film had meant a lot to her and her bank account. I felt a little bad... but I was certain I'd done the right thing then. But right then, I half wished I'd printed those pictures myself and got them plastered on mugs and shirts and posters all over Tokyo.  
  
A slight needy need for revenge... maybe it would pass. I hoped it would pass, soon at least. Because when I passed I knew I would feel better, I wouldn't hurt anymore.  
  
But until then...  
  
*  
  
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AN: Ok, Inuyasha's run away from home and Kagome will probably want to run away from home when her dad finds out about the wasted film ^_^;; A sappy chapter is coming up next time (I think) 


	11. My Favourite Colour

AN: God I'm so bored of Winter…! Where the hell did Spring go?! And summers too short! Maybe I should just go move to the Caribbean or something…

Rules of Acquisition

~Kagome~

A whole week and I was beginning to feel the slight pretence of concern edging on my horizon. A whole week had passed since Inuyasha had jumped out my window and out of sight. I hadn't seen him since.

And neither had anyone else apparently.

I couldn't keep the frown from furrowing my face anymore as I moved around the library setting books back in their correct places in the stacks, and collecting returned books for the same treatment. Twice my friends had asked me what the matter was… but I just kept it to myself.

I put back a comprehensive reading book about Western philosophy, my hand lingering against it limply as my eyes glazed over and my thoughts over took my body. The pain was supposed to have eased by now. And in a way it had – but it was still much too painful at times. There was no one to turn to other than Sango… and Sango wasn't the most understanding person for my situation. She didn't want to encourage any relationship between me and an Arashi. The times she'd tried to cheer me up had been executed in text book like fashion.

"Cheer up, It's not the end of the world." She would say while mechanically hugging me. "There are plenty more fish in the sea. You'll live. Time heals all wounds. He didn't deserve you anyway. He's a bastard. You could do so much better. You WILL do so much better."

And some times, just to push the boat out she might add, "Kouga's still available you know."

I half expected her to say something like "Don't worry, you'll be… um… Line!"

Ok. Sango had never been a girly, girl who was in touch with their feelings like I was. She wanted me to get over it and move on and put all this mess behind us. We had a small heist to pull off next Tuesday, and I had to be fully functional.

But it still hurt. Every time I closed my eyes at night to sleep I thought of him. During the day I tried to occupy myself as best I could – usually in brainy activities to subdue any kind of lingering thought of him. Hey, sometimes it worked. Though when it didn't work… I nearly burst out into fresh tears every time. Well, actually I was pretty much past the stage of crying my eyes out… and more onto the manic depressed and emotionally scarred and traumatised for life stage.

And every time I saw Mr Arashi on the news with the upcoming election, I thought of Inuyasha. Every time I put on fresh clothes and smelled the clean washing powder aroma… I thought of him. Every time I passed a pine tree, I would smell the musky pine sap and think of him. Every time I saw Miroku I was forced to wonder where he was… but even Miroku didn't know.

"I don't know." He shrugged one time when me and Sango had bumped into him in town. He was busy sucking down the last of his soda drink through his straw noisily. "The last I saw of him was when he accused Arashi of murdering his mother. And the last I heard was that he stayed over at your house for the night. I assumed maybe your dad had found out and had him secretly assassinated or something."

That was what I was worried about. A few people disappeared off the face of the earth in the political world. Not often, but it happened. And I wouldn't have put it past my father to act out passionately against the scum that hurt his daughter's feelings…

No, that was called overreacting – on my behalf. Of course he's not dead in a ditch or assassinated in any other way! I tried to smile at my own stupidness and shook myself from my trance like state over the philosophy book. I moved back to the front desk and began cataloguing returned books in the register.

Of course, it wasn't long before the biro pen nib stopped connecting with the page and my mind began wondering again.

But if Miroku – a spy – didn't know where Inuyasha was… then where the hell was he? It wasn't like him to just disappear like this… but then again, I hadn't really expected him to leave me in the lurch like this either. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought I knew him?

Didn't Miroku care where Inuyasha was? They were friends weren't they? Or maybe… yes… they WERE friends. What if Miroku knew where Inuyasha was, and just wasn't telling me because Inuyasha asked him not to.

Perhaps he was living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere? It would have to be a big refrigerator box, knowing how proud Inuyasha was. But then again, he could just as easily be living it up in a Penthouse with the playboy bunny girls as roommates. 

I set down the pen against the register and looked around. There were quite a few people hanging around, but it was unnervingly quiet. My fingernails dug against my palm in my clenched hands, making small crescent moon indents. I half wished it could be noisier in the library… maybe that way the sound would drone out the scary thoughts in my head.

I sighed and forced my fists to relax as I mooched off to find something more stimulating to do. 

What if Miroku wasn't lying… and he really didn't know where Inuyasha was? What if Inuyasha was in trouble somewhere…? My steps faltered and I reached out with a hand to steady myself against one of the wracks.

I'd never be able to forgive myself if something bad happened to him…

I stood silently for a moment, contemplating my options. I could just sit back and wait… run the possibility that I'd never see Inuyasha again and act cool and unfazed by the fact I'd been dumped rather harshly. Or I could get into a tizz and find out what the heck had happened to him! Sure, it wouldn't be the cool thing to do… and it would be kinda obvious to all that I was worried about him…

But…

I sighed and came to my decision. Enough was enough and a week was more than enough time to wait around for something to happen. Inuyasha was gone and I was going to find him. I was a spy in training – I had the knowledge and experience to track him down in a few ways. I had resources at my disposal, connections to big names and powers that could make Superman jealous (because he isn't real and I am). 

And it wasn't like I was looking for him so I could fall onto my knees like a pathetic moron and cry my heart out, begging to have him take me back. Nor was I about to go scream and beat him into a bloody pulp for leaving me. I just wanted to go and make sure he was ok, happy and safe… then I would get back on with my life and forget about him.

Ok, fat chance I'd forget about him in a hurry. No matter how much I tried to deny it I still loved that idiot… and love wasn't an emotion that could evaporate as easily as anger. Yes, I would be angry at Inuyasha when I saw him… IF I saw him… but that would only last for a day at least. My love for him would last a whole lot longer than that.

"Ayame!" I called as I passed my boss who sat at her table reading a book title 'The Joy of Sex'. "I'm going for my break – see you after lunch!"

She just nodded and went back to reading. I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder as I headed out the open doors and into the street outside. I was serious about finding him… and the first place to look would be his work place.

I fancied I knew Inuyasha well enough to know that he would still be working as a Male Nurse. He was always going to be petulant and stubborn, and he wouldn't drop the job – only because his father wanted him to drop it. If he was still mad at his father (and I reckoned he was considering he was refusing to return) then he would undoubtedly keep the job just to tickle Mr Arashi's nerves.

I prayed I knew him as well as that…

The hospital loomed ahead of me after a few minutes and I quickly hurried towards the automatic sliding doors and went inside. Around me was the waiting room, filled with patients and a few medical staff like doctors in white coats and blue scrubs. I saw a few female nurses dressed in burgundy red scrubs but no Inuyasha.

I headed for the front desk and waited for the nurse on hand to look up. "May I help you?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yeah… there's a Nurse here named Inuyasha… I was wondering if he was around today."

"Inuyasha…" the young woman looked thoughtful. "You mean Inuyasha Arashi, the MP's son?"

"Yes, that's him."

"He's not around today. He doesn't work here anymore I don't think." She told me.

My heart fell. Ok… perhaps I didn't know Inuyasha as well as I thought.

"He got a transfer to some other district." The girl went on.

"Really? Which one?!" I demanded, leaning forward quickly.

"I don't know… you could always ask the Sister. She might know which hospital he works at now."

"Where's the Sister then?" I asked.

"Hanging around the open wards. You can't miss her – she's the matron in the white uniform." The nurse smiled jovially and went back to work. I turned and followed the signs for the open wards down the corridor.

The open wards were just cheap equivalents of normal ward, but just with curtains separating the individual wards that held two or three beds. It wasn't a very rich hospital… but it was quaint. And it made it far easier to spot the matronly Sister across the way.

"Excuse me!" I came up behind her and she turned expectantly. I had to refrain from jumping back with a shriek of horror as I realised one of her eyes was missing and covered with an eye patch. God only knew how she'd got that injury. I looked at her name tag. "Sister Kaede…?"

"Yes?" she frowned curiously, watching me intensely. I think she must have thought me familiar… well, I had been in the newspapers a few times over the past few months.

"I was wondering… do you know what happened to a Nurse named Inuyasha, he worked under you didn't he?"

"Inuyasha?" the woman barely refrained from rolling her eyes (eye?). "He doesn't work under me anymore. Never did actually…"

"Do you know where he is now?" I asked hopefully.

"I heard he got a transfer. He came and handed in his resignation a week ago." Sister Kaede folded her hands before her. "I noticed he didn't tell me where he was heading, even when I asked him directly."

My hopes faltered again. He was covering his tracks well. He really didn't want to be followed.

I sighed and thanked the old woman before heading out of the hospital to ponder on where to look next. Perhaps finding Miroku was the best way to Inuyasha…

I phoned Sango and got the priest's number before dialling it into my phone and waiting for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" Definitely Miroku.

"Hi, it's Kagome."

There was a surprised pause. "Hi… can I help you with something… or something…"

He sounded confused, and I didn't blame him. I would never have considered calling the bastard. He was the one who prowled around at night, always getting to mine and Sango's job before us and basically causing us all a lot of grief. Plus, he didn't even try and hold his punches when he fought with me.

"We're friends, aren't we Miroku?" I said, trying to mentally block all the previously mentioned things.

"… sure…" he said carefully, as though someone had a gun pressed to his back.

"So… do you happen to know where Inuyasha is? I mean… he's been gone and me and Sango are getting a little worried." I told him, half truthfully.

"I told you. I ain't heard from him either."

"You have no idea where he is?"

"None." Was the blunt reply. "He's an Arashi. I've seen a few of the other male members of that family do the same thing in the past. They get into trouble, financial or legal, they declare bankruptcy, move away and change their names. Inuyasha's done the same. No point looking for him. No one's found his three uncles that did the same thing. Not even the police."

"Nice family…" I commented, feeling a little astonished.

"Yeah, well that's Arashi for you. The going gets tough and the tough guys get going. Cowardly if you ask me."

Miroku sounded a little peeved right then… I guess he really didn't know where Inuyasha was. It must have annoyed the super spy… not knowing where his friend was…

"Ok, nevermind. Thanks anyway." I said as I prepared to hang up. 

"Pleasure." He said, and I could just imagine him shrugging to go along with it. I ended the call and held the phone out before me. I could try calling Inuyasha's number again… but the last time I'd tried that I got the administrator telling me the number was no longer in use. Now that meant he'd either changed his number or destroyed his phone… or maybe even he'd gotten caught in one of those car crushing machines and him and his phone had met their pasty end among the spark plugs.

No, I liked my other theory better. The one where Inuyasha's been abducted – by an ancient breed of pterodactyls that have been frozen for sixty five million years, and only recently got thawed out to come and take him away to feed to their babies, so they can reproduce and try and take over the Earth again. Inuyasha may have unwittingly caused the human race's first steps into slavery by demon birds. 

He couldn't have been abducted by aliens, that was just stupid. 

I sighed as I stared softly at the phone. "Call me… you big lunkhead… show me you care… tell me you're ok… everything's ok…"

Out of miracle alone, the phone rung and vibrated in my hand. I dashed it to my ear in a split second. "Hello?!"

"Hi, Kagome, dear." My mother said cheerfully back. "While you're out would you mind picking up some Gerbil food for Souta. If we don't feed those poor darlings soon they'll all drop dead."

I groaned inwardly. "Sure thing."

"Catch you later, dear." She said before hanging up.

I stuffed my phone back into my pocket… but I kept it turned on just in case.

~Inuyasha~

You begin to take the easy things for granted when you live alone and have to live, work and provide for yourself. Before, the food was always set before me, whether I wanted it or not, and the shelter was always there whatever time of day and night. Well… usually… The accommodation had been much better than average, and the food was the same type that was served on Titanic. I'd never needed a job as much as I needed one now. And even then I wasn't sure it was enough. So what did I do in my spare time when I wasn't scrubbing puke off the hospital floors? Or lounging around in the luxury rented converted attic of a small house?

Well I was working in the docks helping transport the landed fish from the ship holds to the vans. And that was on a good day. On a bad day I would be gutting those fish.

The smells just kept getting better and better.

I probably permanently smelled like fish now. What a fine fall from grace (if I ever had been in grace that was). If only my dad could see me now… I'd be willing to bet he had a heart attack and died on the spot of shame. And what about Kagome… what would she say?

Kagome would probably have laughed in that perfectly feminine lilting laugh she had… and told me I'd found my calling. 

Don't get me wrong, it was nice to live alone for a change. I didn't have parents hounding me to do this, and do that, or drop that job or drop that girlfriend. But it did mean that now I had to do everything by myself. I had to wash the dishes, clean the dingy little apartment, and hopefully make enough money out of the fish job so I could attend further Nurse education classes at the nearby college. That way I could move up the ranks in the hospital so much faster.

After all, the old bat Kaede had said that if I continued at the rate I was going, then I'd be chief nurse of the ICU in no time.

Would that make me a Sister like her…?

I shrugged that thought off as my attention was drawn back to present matters. My gaze flickered to the opening of the harbour where one of the ships was slowly chugging its way from sea to moor in docks. I waited patiently from where I sat at the edge of the concrete platform, swinging my legs over the edge and absently tapping out a catchy little rhythm with my claws on the metal pole that rested on my lap.

A few other Dockers were hanging around the platform around me, leaning or sitting on crates, waiting for the next ship to come along and be unloaded. That's why I didn't really notice the new guy who came and sat on a crate only a few metres behind me. It was only until he spoke that I realised he wasn't one of the workers.

"So you ran away, quit your easy white-collar job, abandoned your friends and family, forsook your name and privileges and picked up a blue-collar job."

I snapped my head around to glare at Miroku who was nodding slightly in appreciation. "And only moved two miles up the road." He said after a moment. "Not bad."

"Sometimes the best place to hide is right under your nose." I retorted. "Not that I'm _hiding _or anything…"

"When did you turn into such a girl?" he gave me a sour look. "A little problem with Daddy and you run for the hills… or the harbour even…"

"This has nothing to do with that wombat." I snapped, clenching the pole in my hands tightly. 

"Oh, so the fact that he slugged you the day before you ran away was pure coincidence."

"Exactly." I nodded firmly. "And I didn't run away! I just… left home! It's sad that a guy my age is still at home."

"Seventeen years old isn't exactly the sad thirty year old man at home cliché thing." Miroku told me dryly. "So if it wasn't for your Dad, why did you run away."

"I told you, I didn't run away."

"Then you fled. You burned rubber. High-tailed it. Whatever, I don't care, I just want to know why you left." He said in that stern fatherly like voice he acquires sometimes, making me feel like a stubborn bratty child. Which I think was the desired effect he wanted.

But I couldn't tell him I left because of Kagome…

"A mixture of things." I said. It wasn't a lie. "I'm sick of being in the spotlight because of Dad. I'm sick of being watched every time I go out. If not by the paparazzi – then by you. And don't deny that you sometimes follow me on Dad's orders to make sure I wasn't meeting up with Kagome, cause I see you, ya know."

"I know. That's why I always lost you." He sighed.

"Well… I'm sick of it. I have to always watch my step, say the right things in public, and if I'm seen with the wrong person then I get hounded repeatedly for it. By the press and by my family. I never asked to be a part of this, so I think I'll just sit a pitiful life like that out, thank you very much."

Miroku contemplated this quietly as I stood up, the ship that was planning to moor was getting closer and slowing down further.

"Your Dad wants you to come back home. He says he's sorry, and he hopes that you can forgive him. He's worried about you…" Miroku said evenly.

"Bull. How much did he pay you to make that stuff up on your way over?" he snapped.

"That's what he said, I swear it on my mother's grave." He held a hand over his heart. "I even got it on tape. You want to hear?"

I turned and stared at him as he pulled out a small tape recorder and rewound it to play from the beginning. He pressed play and held it up. "Just tell him to come home… god knows what kind of trouble he's up to on his own. The boy's an idiot, he wouldn't last five days without someone there to pamper him…"

That made me scowl. But my father's tone of voice had been unusually subdued. Almost as if he was worried. Miroku stopped the tape and raised his eyebrows at me. I snorted and turned back to watch the oncoming ship. "So what? He knew you were recording."

"He's your father. He may not be the loving kind father everyone else has, but he is Youkai, so what do you expect?" Miroku hopped off the crate he was sitting on. "He's really sorry for what he did. You should see him, it's eating at him little by little, every day. He really does want you home."

"No, he wants me home so that the press don't pick up the story of how he kicked his youngest son out of the house to live in Skanky town." I shook my head. "I ain't coming back. You of all people should know how much Dad's words mean to me."

He came up beside me I glanced warily at him. When we were younger, this would be the point where he pushed me over the edge into the water to reinforce his side of the argument. Thankfully, I was glad to see that at least one of us had grown up.

"If you won't come back for him… then what about Kagome?" he asked, without looking at me as he eyed up the old ship heading towards the moorings. "She called me when I was on my way over. She asked about you… she's worried too, ya know."

"I know."

"Remember when I once told you that you were the scum of the universe?"

"Yeah…"

"Well now I really mean it." He folded his arms. "Kagome's human like me, so maybe that's why I feel more strongly about this but… she hasn't done anything wrong to you, other than be your friend and helped you… and probably comforted you when you cried among other things she did to comfort you." He coughed. I glared at him, obviously he had his own ideas about what happened the night I slept in her room. "Girls like that are special, I should know. You can't just dump them and pretend they don't exist."

"I couldn't help it." I tried lamely.

He skewed me a shrewd look. "Wow, never heard that excuse before."

"I mean it… you wouldn't understand." I growled, moving a few paces away to put some distance between him and me. "Things were complicated. We were two different people…"

"Inuyasha… every couple is two different people." He sighed. "Damn, you really don't date many ladies do you."

"Shut up! At least I'm not a slut like you!"

"Venting you anger on me is only attempting to detract from the matter at hand. The point is, you dumped Kagome, she's hurt, and if you two don't reconcile then either me, Sango, or Kagome, is going to push you off this dock right now."

I glared at him whilst trying to search for the true answer inside of me. I left Kagome for a reason, a good reason… but I couldn't identify the reason. No matter how much I tried, I didn't understand what it was I was feeling. "We had secrets… I felt I didn't know her anymore…" I grumbled, a small feeling of relief told me I was on the right tracks. "She didn't tell me her secrets and it's come between us… seriously…"

"Everyone has secrets. It isn't relationship law to tell your partner everything." Miroku told me bluntly. "I bet you keep secrets from her as well, right? I bet you didn't tell her yours either? I bet you _still _haven't told her yours."

"If you don't back off and go home and tell everyone you couldn't find me then I might just have to be forced to push you off this platform." At least I hadn't grown up yet.

"Whatever." He shrugged and walked away from the edge. "I'll go home and tell them you leapt onto the nearest boat sailing to Africa… it won't be a lie if you take it literally."

Good, he got the idea… but why didn't I feel so relieved anymore.

"Remember, I'm not trying to force you to move back into the Arashi's household. I just want you to pay us a visit… or at least pay Kagome a visit."

"Why do you care so much about her?!" I snapped, a little suspicious of his motives.

"Why else?" he flashed me one of his grins. "Upset Kagome means an upset Sango, and upset Sango wants stupid Inuyasha guts. When stupid Inuyasha isn't around, upset Sango wants to take a piece out of available Miroku instead. It's my neck on the line here, not yours. See ya."

He turned and walked away with his hands stuffed in his pockets, dodging between the manual labourers along the docks. I shook my head at him and turned in time to catch the heavy rope that was thrown from the crew on the ship at me. I bent down and began to knot it around the mooring ring to keep the ship from drifting off.

Maybe Miroku had a point here…

~Kagome~

I sat on the wall behind the bus stop, half-heartedly glaring at the cracked pave stones on the sidewalk before me. I sighed and began counting the number of cracks on average for every nine slabs…

God I was so bored.

There was only one other person waiting for the bus besides me – An old woman who kept giving me long slanted looks, probably having recognised my face. I just kept my patience and ignored her… I got those kinds of looks from people all the time. A bus came, but it wasn't my ride, so the old woman left and I was on my own again.

After a while someone else came along and sat on the wall beside me. Once more I kept my patience and just averted my attention to the shrubs growing on my other side, hoping the guy would catch a hint. He smelled kinda familiar… like Sushi…

And pine trees… and washing powder…

I turned to him so quickly I nearly got whiplash, and then nearly swooned dead away when I realised it was Inuyasha.

"I am…" Inuyasha looked like he was counting cracks in paving stones too. "… a complete idiot…"

I stared at him, totally thunderstruck. My mouth moved of it's own will. "And…?"

"And I hope you can forgive me?" he glanced at me.

The anger hit me full force, I'd expected it, and I'd told myself to control it if I didn't want to ruin things… but right then I was too angry to care. I wanted to make him hurt as much as he'd hurt me. 

"You think everything's that simple with me don't you?" I snapped harshly, folding my arms and turning away. "Just apologise and Kagome will come running back? I gave you your chance and you just threw it in my face… well you don't get third chances round here!"

I heard him shift slightly behind him. "I don't know how else to start telling you how sorry I am…"

I turned sharply to give him a frosty glare. "Didn't you get Miroku to give you your speech?"

"I'm not giving you any speeches." He frowned. "The human language just isn't broad enough to tell you how really stupid I was… I wasn't thinking… but I've been going to pieces on my own…"

I looked him over. "You look fine to me… except you kinda smell like my lunch."

"I'm a Docker for landed fish stocks." I told her bluntly.

"I guess you found your calling then." I said curtly, noticing the slightly amused expression that quirked the corner of his lips. I hadn't intended that to be funny, more sarcastic and cutting.

"I didn't leave because of you." I told her. "If anything, the only reason I was staying was because of you."

That touched something inside… and I shifted uncomfortably. "But you dumped me…"

"I didn't want to… it's just…" he trailed off.

"Just what?" I asked sharply.

"For a moment, I thought you were someone else."

I narrowed my eyes. "What? You thought I was Kikyo? Try again Inuyasha, that was a lame one!"

"No… I just realised something about you… and it scared me… but I'm not worried about that anymore."

"Realised what about me?" I asked cautiously.

"That you're way out of my league." He shrugged with a small smile.

I stared at him a moment before shaking me had. "You don't know me at all. You think you do, but you don't."

"I know you. I know everything about you." He said quickly.

He didn't know about what I did at night… he didn't know me at all. "You don't know me." I repeated, firmly. "If you think I'll forgive you so easily, you don't know me."

"I know you won't forgive me so easily. But ask me something, anything, and I'll prove I know you."

"Ok then…" I looked him in the eye, trying to see if he was joking around. "What's my favourite colour?"

He froze, completely stumped by the question. Damn… if he didn't even know my favourite colour then it was hopeless.

"I don't know…" he said slowly. "But I know that your favourite food is Oden… you always order it when we go to cafés and whenever you smell it you start to drool… just a guess."

A bang on guess.

"And your favourite hot drink is hot chocolate… you always put sugar in it and make it too sweet, and always put too much cream on top. You'd put marshmallows in as well if the Café sold it that way." He smiled and looked away from me. "Your favourite book is 'Gone with the Wind' I caught you reading it once in the Library, even though you have a copy in you bookshelf in your room. You must have read it a hundred times, it's practically coming apart and bent and ripped…"

I stared at him… how did he know all this?

"Your favourite film is 'The Ring', you dragged Sango off to see it twice. I reckon you like giving yourself a good scare from now and then, because you still read horror novels and Point crime books. Either that, or the romantic comedy ones. You don't think a story, action or adventure, is complete without a romantic plot. That's just a typical girl thing."

"How…?"

"Your favourite song is the theme tune to 'Lost Spirits' It must be on every Wednesday and Saturday night, because on Thursday and Sunday mornings, you're always humming the tune. And you sing it out loud when you shower."

"How did you know I-"

"You love Ben And Jerry's ice cream. Whenever you pass a stall of the stuff you always look hungry." He smiled again. "And you've never told anyone before, but you want to be Song-writer when you grow up."

My blood ran cold. Now I _know _I'd never told anyone that before… not even my closest and dearest friends… "How?!"

"You make up tunes all the time. You hum things I've never heard of, and they're always catchy. You make them up yourself, right? But you always forget them and the next day you make up something new and start singing that. You even make up words to go along with the tunes you make up."

I nearly had to turn away I was blushing so hard.

"But in all seriousness, you'll probably do a job which helps people… a doctor… a day care centre… animal shelter… because that's what you like to do. You like to help people." He reclined back slightly. "But you'd never work with worms. You hate worms. But you love cats. Mostly because you prefer that fat cat Buyo over Souta's gerbils. Plus, you practically purr whenever I hold you in my lap."

And I thought I was blushing enough before…

"And… your favourite colour is yellow." He said, almost as if realising it. "You always wear it and your room has a yellow theme. And you hate trousers because every time we go you always wear skirts. And the last time you wore trousers you were always scratching behind your knees. I'm guessing they chafe your skin."

I stared at him as he finished and suddenly looked slightly peeved. "And your crush is the lead singer in that band called 'Stolen'. Not only do you have his poster on your bedroom door, but you also always stare at the billboard advertising his new album outside the tube station. Just because it has his face plastered over half the picture…"

I stared at him in complete silence for a long time before I finally found my voice. "How do you know all that… I never told you _any _of that!"

He shrugged. "It's hard to miss all these things about you. And even you do it. You can look at a total stranger and determine whether they are nice or nasty, just by looking at them. I look at you every day… and I talk to you… and I start to know _you _better than I know myself."

Damn… now I felt a little guilty that the only thing I could be certain about him was that he liked the colour red. And only because he told me so.

"So…" he nudged me slightly. "Do you accept my apology."

I was impressed… and I couldn't seem to really remember why I had been angry at him. "Um… I guess… you're forgiven… but I'm still kinda mad at you."

He looked very relieved, and I realised he must have been quite tense, I only just saw it leave his expression. "Good." He smiled gratefully.

"Are you… moving back here?"

"I'm not moving back in with Dad." He said shortly. "I don't live very far away anyway… only a mile or two."

"Ok."

For a long time I just sat there, absorbing his presence again before he slowly reached across and placed a hand on my thigh. I looked down at the hand before looking up at him expectantly.

"I was going insane without you…" he said so earnestly that it tugged at my heart.

"I did go a little insane." I responded sheepishly, placing my own hand over his and giving it a squeeze. I glanced up at him to see he was looking at me in a way that made my heart pound.

He leaned towards me, and I started to lean towards him as well… until I suddenly pulled back sharply. He looked confused. "What? Don't you want to-"

"No – I do!" I wrinkled my nose. "It's just I want you to take a shower before we try that again."

"I still stink of fish?" he sniffed his hand and grimaced. "Better not do any cat impressions for a while, Kagome."

I laughed lightly as he dropped down from the wall and looked back at me seriously. "We have to be more careful now."

"I know…" I said, with an internal sigh.

"Miroku and Sango can't know." He told me strictly.

"Alright."

"Which means we have to pretend to still be at war with one another. Ok?"

"Ok." I nodded obediently and waved as he walked away.

Don't tell Sango? I could do that. But I was sure she would notice my mood had been miraculously lifted in the space of an afternoon. Maybe I should just tell her I got together with Kouga at last.

I grinned evilly. Yep. That would make Inuyasha squirm like bait on a hook.

AN: Well, not overly sappy but there you go…


	12. Love Rivals

AN: Sorry! I haven't updated in ages… I'm so lazy right now. Anyway, I got the idea for Inuyasha's little 'apology speech' when my boyfriend told me the same things (obviously different because I don't like Oden or the colour yellow and not in so much depth because normal boyfriends aren't _that _observant) – but it was sweet so I asked if I could steal it for my story ^_^ How romantic of me. 

****

Rules of Acquisitions

Love Rivals

~Inuyasha~

"I can't believe you actually talked me into this." I grumbled as I paced the wall beside the main road in Giiza's shopping district. Miroku just rolled his eyes at me and carried on tapping something into the small lap top on his lap.

"I can't do this alone. My arm still hurts." He shrugged with one arm. "It _was_ pretty soundly broken."

"I can't believe I'm actually helping Dad out." I grumbled again as I turned to pace past him again.

"Because you love him so much."

He turned and gave him a stony glare that he seemed to feel rather than see since he quickly tried again. "I mean… subconsciously… deep, deep down… you like him a little."

"I'm only doing this for you." I barked and resumed pacing. "Or I'm just really bored… I'm not doing it for Dad."

He shrugged again.

I looked up the road again and sighed. The whole area was vacant of any kind of life. No traffic, a few parked cars outside the shops… the windows of such shops were shuttered and locked down. Well, that was typical since it _was _about five in the morning. "Where's the van with the blasted jewel then?"

"It's coming." Miroku sighed tolerably, glancing up the road towards a bridge that crossed over the canal. "Hopefully we'll get it before they do."

I followed his gaze and narrowed my eyes when I spotted the two shadowy forms of two girls sitting on the same wall as us, but further up on the bridge. Kagome and Sango… they couldn't see us because we were wearing black like they were, plus we were covered by trees.

It wasn't certain who would get to the armoured van first. They were on the bridge and we were a hundred metres to the right, further up the road. If the van came along from the right… we'd get it. If it came from the left, then the girls would get it…

Miroku can crack codes like coconuts, but he can't tell left from right.

"Jaken said it was coming from the left." Miroku spoke, as if reading my thoughts. "But depends on your point of view. On this side of the road, left is up by the bridge… but if we cross over to the other side, left is up our end."

"Didn't he say which side of the road you have to stand on for it to be left?" I asked, barely following the thread of Miroku's logic.

"Well… he said stand on the left side of the road, facing the road, and the van will come up on the left…" he scratched his head. "But… depending on where you're standing, left of the road could be either this side or the other-"

"Just stop!" I snapped and folded my arms angrily. I resumed pacing and he went back to doing computer stuff… after a moment I got bored and glanced at the small plasma screen. "What are you doing?"

"Programming." He shrugged.

"Why?"

"So we can break the electric locking system on the back of the van so _you _can get inside." He said like he was explaining to a school child.

"Yeah?" I guess I should be impressed.

"You see, the computer will relay a signal when I tell it to, out to the lock on the van. It'll take the code from within the memory of the lock and send it back to me – so that I can bounce it back along the same frequency and encode the code to unlock the lock." He smirked up at me. "It's called hacking. Then you can open the door without any resistance and get the Shikon before the girls try the same stunt. But it means you better turn your mobile off otherwise it'll interfere with the signal."

"You really thought this out didn't you?"

~Kagome~

"I don't see any armoured vans, Sango." I heaved a sigh as I pulled myself up onto the wall beside her. I decided not to look down, since it was a long drop to the canal below the bridge we were on… but this was where the van was supposed to pass through with the Shikon no Tama. 

"Maybe there was a traffic jam. Just delayed… it'll be here soon." She responded, fists clenched in either annoyance at me or nervousness.

"Unless it's already been intercepted by Miroku." I suggested dubiously, pulling the balaclava like mask to the side so I could breathe. "In which case we've failed the mission before we've even begun."

"Too early in the morning for you, huh?" she reached over and pulled my mask back on. "Don't pull it off, you don't know who's watching."

"If anyone normal comes along they'll think we're bandits." Though it was too early in the morning to actually worry about that possibility. People didn't tend to do their Tuesday shopping at five o'clock in the morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten.

"So how do we do this again?" I asked, nervously looking up the road for the approach of a vehicle.

"Van comes up the road, passes over the bridge – has to slow down because it's a narrow way – we jump the van, stop it, pull out the driver and then open the back where the jewel should be."

"But doesn't the back of the van have an electric code locking system?" I pointed out. "How do we get past that one?"

Sango hefted something out of her bag that lay on the wall next to her, and held it out without looking at me. "Crowbar." She said simply and set it down on the bricks with a clang.

"You really thought this out didn't you?"

~Inuyasha~

"One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war, five, six, seven, eight, try to keep your thumb straight."

We stopped twiddling thumbs together, preparing to do battle. "Bow, kiss, begin."

"That part's just gay." I told him as I began to try and manoeuvre my thumb over his and pin it down. Surprisingly it was quite hard, and we were both nearly toppling off the wall with our efforts to overpower the other's thumb.

"You know…" Miroku tried to twist his hand to the advantage. "This'll be a lot fairer if you didn't have a claw as an extension of your thumb."

"Well you have double jointed thumbs, so we'll call it even."

"We're not even – my arm was broken – it's still weak!" he protested.

"You're not using your broken arm!" I shot back.

By now we were getting quite a few odd looks from passers by. We'd been siting on the wall for two hours now, and finally the traffic was beginning to appear and a few pedestrians were out to do their shopping early or walk their dogs. I guess they didn't see two muppets dressed in black from head to toe having thumb wars on the roadside every day.

"I can see your hair." Miroku said, obviously only trying to distract me because I knew my hair was hidden perfectly.

"Liar!"

"Your contacts have fallen out!"

"No they haven't!" I could still feel the uncomfortable little beggars on my eyeballs. Plus my vision was tinted purple still.

"Vans coming!"

"Like I'll fall for that one-"

"No really." He dropped my hand and quickly picked his lap top up. "Coming up to the bridge!"

I spun and cursed as I saw the grey metallic coloured van approaching the bridge about two hundred metres away. It had slowed down considerably because the area was heavy with pedestrians, even at this time in the morning. I cast a look to the bridge and saw Kagome and Sango had gone… shit…

"Don't unlock the back till I get there!" I yelled to Miroku over my shoulder as I hoped down off the wall and shot off towards the bridge. The plan was to stop the van, pull out the drivers and/or guards and grab the jewel before they could stop me. Simple. Except for the part where Kagome and Sango came in. What were they planning to do?

Then I saw them both… just as the van started to slow further as it passed over the bridge. Sango moved first, ran straight in front of the van, making it screech to a halt to avoid hitting her, whilst Kagome disappeared round the back.

I cursed again and pushed past random pedestrians as I sped up towards the bridge. I blew past Sango who was busy taking control of the vehicle, shoving the driver and the guard onto the road. In seconds I swerved around the back and blinked in surprise to find the armoured doors had been forced open, the lock broken and a crowbar lying haphazardly on the tarmac.

Before I could reach up to open the doors, they were thrown back to reveal the unmistakable figure of Kagome with a metal briefcase under one arm. She locked gazes with me and I felt my mouth grow dry. 

Seeing her eyes cloud over with anger and hate was definitely a strange experience when she normally looks at me with love and adoration.

"You're not getting it this time!" she hissed and vanished, literally, into thin air.

The whole weird experience just got weirder. My girlfriend can turn herself invisible and make doubles of herself… not as kinky as I would have liked it to sound.

A sharp, unseen, blow caught me around the head and I staggered back, unintentionally giving Kagome room to escape the van.

"No you don't!" I located her merely by the sound of her rustling clothes alone. I grabbed her around the waist and heard her yelp indignantly. I kept a hold of her shirt with one hand and groped around blindly to find the metal briefcase she held. Accidentally, or not so accidentally as it might have seemed, I brushed against parts of her that normally only _I _would be permitted to touch.

"Pervert!" a hand connected with my cheek in a rather lame blow. I caught her wrist and struggled to locate her other hand which would undoubtedly be attached to the case.

It must have looked strange. Pedestrians had stopped to stare at me, grappling with myself apparently.

But in her panic to keep me from getting the case, Kagome must have thrown it… but this only meant it reappeared as it skidded along the road a few metres away. I saw my chance and set her aside… maybe before had I thought she was someone else I would have pushed her or deliberately knocked her down… I just didn't have the heart to hurt her like that.

I raced over to pick it up, but no sooner did I have it in my hands then Kagome's visible arms encircled my neck, pulling me back in strangle hold. "I won't let you have it!"

She was freakishly strong, and it didn't help that she was pressing against my Adam's apple… probably the most painful thing she could have done besides get me in the nads again. "Get… off…!" I coughed hoarsely.

And just to make the moment worse, Sango was the one who stepped up before me and picked up the case. She smirked at me. "I'll be taking this then."

In one smooth motion she cracked open the case and caught the small pink bead before it fell onto the road. With that she discarded the metal case, throwing it over the wall into the canal below. She opened her mouth to gloat some more when someone tackled her from the side. Miroku.

A few moments after they rolled away to begin fighting each other elsewhere, did I realise the Shikon had been knocked from her hand to land before me. I began reaching out, but Kagome saw the movement and wrenched me back, diving forward to grab the jewel as I fell onto my back. I could have easily overpowered her, kicked her away. She left herself open so much it was unbelievable. But I couldn't. The least I could do was kick the jewel aside, sending it skittering towards the middle of the road.

She lunged after it immediately, running straight into the road without a second thought. I heard the blaring horn of a motorist and the screaming of braking wheels on tarmac. The car was moving too fast, it wouldn't stop in time.

Like Kagome, without thinking, I bolted after her, nearly throwing her out of the path of the vehicle a split second before it impacted my hip and dragged me underneath.

~Kagome~

I heard the car coming, but I didn't even have time to panic or turn and look before someone smacked into me and threw me into the pavement. I nearly got whiplash I was thrown so hard. I landed on the hard ground and jarred my knee. I heard a bang and a thud behind me…

But right then my attention was taken up too much by the Shikon that was fast rolling towards the wall at the edge of the bridge… towards that hole where the bricks had fallen away to be more exact.

"No!" I gasped and lunged forward, trying to stop it from doing the inevitable, but I was too slow. My hand cam down on nothing but air as the jewel happily tipped through the hole and fell out of sight. My breath hitched as I scrambled to stand, despite the pain in my knee, and leaned over the wall to look down.

There it was… the little speck of pink… floating away with the current of the water… surprisingly fast. I felt a little feeling similar to that when I lost games of river sticks… where you drop a stick off one side of a bridge and see whose comes out first on the other side. 

"No…" I whimpered falling limply against the wall.

Sango's hand touched my shoulder and I glanced up at her. "Where's the Shikon?"

I pointed miserably. Surprisingly she didn't look too upset. "It's ok, we can still get it back. And better yet, the guys don't know what's happened."

"Guys?" I looked around and saw the small calamity we'd caused. The armoured van, vandalised and stationary. Behind it was the car that had nearly hit me, and behind that was a line of cars building up in a jam.

"Where'd they go?" I asked. There had been two… I was sure. I had been certain I was strangling Miroku, until I'd seen him tackle Sango… so who'd been with me? And better yet – who'd pushed me out of the path of that car? And where were they now? Surely they would have been hit… but there was no sign of anyone being run over.

"Come on… we'll go tell your father." Sango pulled on my arm to get me moving. I didn't bother arguing as I followed her somewhat stiffly. I ached all over, not surprisingly, and I had a big graze on my palm as well as on my knees.

It just wasn't my day…

~Inuyasha~

It just wasn't my day. First I'd lost six times at thumb wars and then the Shikon no Tama had eluded my capture. Oh yeah, and I got hit by a car, but that's not important. Ok… I was sore… all over actually… and a little miffed too. There I was being all heroic and valiant by pushing my enemy out of the path of the car, and she hadn't even had the decency to turn and see if I was ok.

No I was not ok! 

The bumper had bruised my hip, the wheel had left a nice bug tire track mark over my forearm and not to mention as I went down I not only cracked my head back against the road but the licence plate slapped my chin.

And annoyingly Kagome had been more interesting in chasing a ball of glass off a bridge than the condition of her heroic boyfriend…

Ok… so she hadn't known it was me who saved her.

People were beginning to rush over to see if I was ok, something I didn't want happening. So with sheer force of brute strength (something I pride myself in) I reached up with one hand and grabbed the car's bumper, rolling it backwards so it released the arm it had pinned down with the wheel. Once I was free I dragged myself out from under the metal monster and staggered off, pushing past people to find Miroku.

Naturally, once again Sango had left him looking short of dead. Poor guy. Well, we both looked pretty bashed up so we decided to call it a day and head home to go to bed, despite it being only seven fifteen in the morning. I think I would be taking a day off work. I was too knackered to go there… though I might just go into hospital for the free morphine…

"The only good thing I can think of that came of this…" Miroku sighed as he stopped and leaned on a chain link fence. "Is that the Supei's no longer have the Shikon."

"Yep. It belongs to the canal now." I remarked dryly, leaning on the fence beside him and dragging off the cloth that hid my hair and face. I winced as my injured arm was shot through with pain.

"And where does the canal lead?" Miroku raised an eyebrow.

"To the sea?"

"Well eventually, probably. But before it goes anywhere near there, where does it go?"

"Portugal?" I shook my head with a scowl. "Don't test my brain, Miroku, it's not quite up to the task right now."

"Is it ever?" he cleared his throat. "The point is, before it rejoins the river, it will pass through the filters."

"The what?"

"The plant that removes the pollution from the canal before allowing it to rejoin with the river." He touched a bruising eye tentatively. "Wow… Sango sure didn't hold back today…"

"The plant has filters…" I slowly caught on. "So it'll stop the jewel before it reaches the river and is lost for good?"

"Should do." He nodded. "They have grids that stop solid material first… the Shikon should be caught on the mesh. If you follow the canal, it'll eventually lead to the plant. It won't be going anywhere once it's caught on the filter."

"Great."

We both relaxed and leant back as one on the fence… which unfortunately hadn't been made to support our weight and keeled back, taking us along with it. We toppled straight into someone's back garden and groaned collectively in pain. 

~Kagome~

"Looks like you already used up half of these on yourself?" I shook the contents of the first aid box, looking for some stray plasters and band aids.

Inuyasha sat down stiffly beside me on his sofa, wincing in pain as he did so. I glanced up at him and grimaced. "You look like you've been hit by a car." I smiled jokingly.

He stiffened further, looking offended. "I told you – a crate fell on me."

"Alright, alright!" I picked out a plaster and peeled off the back. The hard part came when I tried to stick it down on my hand, one handed, I kept making a mess of it. Inuyasha watched my progress, shaking his head and tutting in typical know-it-all style.

"Give it here." He took the plaster without permission and half turned towards me and pulled my grazed palm towards him. His aim was a lot better with two hands and he soon had the cut covered and smoothed his thumb over the plaster. I turned my eyes up to his face and saw his expression unusually apologetic. "What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" I smiled. "It's not like you pushed me off my bike."

"I suppose…" he winced at my comment. "I'm sorry… that you fell though. It must have hurt."

"Must have hurt when that crate fell on you too." I countered.

"Flattened like a bug."

I laughed and leaned up to gently kiss the bruise under his eye. "You're such a klutz."

"Well you attract injuries like a magnet by the way." He told me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me against his side. I laid my head on his shoulder and we turned our eyes back to the Television set, half-heartedly watching the match I'd come over to see. Actually, I'd come over really just to spend some nice alone time with him, only to find he was as battered and bruised as me. What a coincidence?!

Well now we could both be a pair of crocs together.

"Nice apartment." I told him and he grunted. "The dust adds a nice rustic quality I find most new apartments lack."

"Well it is an attic." He retorted. "In my opinion attics should just stick to doing attic stuff instead of being apartments."

"Attic stuff?" I looked up at him. "What's that then?"

"You know." He shrugged. "Storing dead pigeons… hard core porn magazines… Granny…"

"Well it's nice you have a place of your own. We can just sit here and watch TV together without anyone hassling us."

"Yeah, well it was either this place or a box under a bridge."

"Hey, do you hear me complaining about your choice?"

"Box under a bridge is less stuffy." He pointed out.

"I guess." I snuggled closer to his warm body. "Oh by the way… I was gonna ask you…"

"Ask me what?"

"Can I stay the night here?" I sat up to face him again. "I mean, it's getting dark and I don't fancy walking home alone later."

"You don't even have to ask." He smiled. "Of course you can. Though there's only one bed and we're sitting on it."

"That's ok." I leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. After a few moments he tilted his head slightly, deepening it before I had a chance to pull back – not that I wanted to or anything. I smiled into the kiss as I felt his hands work their way under my shirt, kneading my back lightly. My tongue flicked out shyly to meet his, my eyes fluttering closed as I allowed myself to feel rather than see.

His hands moved to my waist again to drag me across into his lap and I brought my own hands to brace them against his shoulder as the kiss deepened and took on a more passionate nature, nibbling, plundering and exploring each other's lips. My brain was ceasing to function as swiftly as it normally did, and I was beginning to act on instinct and desire alone. I had an inner feeling that Inuyasha was in the same state of mind.

I leaned forward against him, allowing my hands to free up and lodge in his hair in an effort to curb the kiss towards my domination, but I quickly lost interest in that as my fingers brushed against his ears which twitched in response to my touch.

I was vaguely aware of shifting further as his hands gripped my behind to ease me nearer.

We probably would have gone much further… if we hadn't simultaneously broken off the kiss with a round of 'ow's. My hand had accidentally clamped onto his injured forearm whilst his hand had brushed against my black and blue bruised knee.

We released each other and I slumped back to his side, my head on his shoulder again and I tentatively touched my knee whilst he did the same for his arm. "Not a good idea when we're all ouchie…" I whispered hoarsely… still out of breath.

"Yeah." He winced as his good arm wrapped around my waist. "We should hold that off for a while."

"Mm." I snuggled closer and closed my eyes, no longer interested in watching the match. I just wanted to nap, but before I did I wanted to tell him something before I forgot. "I love you so much you know."

I heard him chuckle above me. "I know. You don't have to tell me. I love you too."

It was a simple as that. I smiled happily and relaxed. 

AN: Should be back soon with another chapter, I hope, I just got distracted with Life Exchange ^_^


	13. The False BreakUp

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Author's Notes: Oh my god, I actually updated!!! Anyway… I promised I hadn't left this story on the shelf to gather dust, so here's the new chapter – it took me all of six hours to write, so I hope you enjoy it. All I really needed to do was find the motivation again for this fic. Seems I found my inspiration so I'll be updating regularly again. Enjoy! ^_^

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Rules of Acquisition

The False Break-up

~Kagome~

The thing about living in a converted attic is that there is always the largest sky light in the world hanging right over your head. Inuyasha's skylight had the misfortune of facing East, so every morning when the sun rose, you were going to be forced to rise with it.

When the strong light roused me from my cosy slumber, I assumed, for a moment, that I was back in my bedroom and my mother had just come in and turned the light on. I was expecting her voice to tell me to get up for work at any moment.

"Five more minutes…" I mumbled inaudibly and snuggled closer to my pillow. My pillow emitted a mumbled response of its own and shifted slightly beside me. It's arm twitched slightly under my neck and its breathing returned to a steady rhythm.

I blinked.

Pillows didn't have arms. And they certainly didn't breathe.

I lifted my groggy head and squinted my eyes to focus on the figure beside me. Ah… Inuyasha… that was ok. I smiled stupidly and lay my head back down on his chest and wiggled closer so I was aligned with his side. There wasn't much room on this couch, but I really didn't mind.

I dozed lightly, happily, and carefree for the best part of that morning. Of all the pleasures in the world, from the most extreme to the simplest feelings, no one would understand how content one could be lying this close to the person they loved most in all the world. I was warm and satisfied both inside and outside. I didn't remember that my name was Higurashi. I didn't recall his name was Arashi. All I knew was that I was blissfully ignorant of the world, and Inuyasha was my only companion.

I seriously could have lain there for eternity, doing nothing more than drifting between wakefulness and sleep.

No one else I knew could possibly understand the true meaning of bliss…

At about eight o'clock there was a loud knock at the door. Inuyasha jerked awake so fast that he tumbled off the sofa completely. I whimpered at the loss of his warmth and curled myself into a ball under the blanket we had shared last night.

"Inuyasha?"

It was Miroku. Slowly my half-asleep sense were instantly alert and I sat bolt upright and locked gazes with an equally awake and alert Hanyou. He mouthed the word 'Miroku!'.

'I know!' I mouthed back, panic and fear making me hostile.

We stared at each other before turning to the door as it rattled again with another knock. "Inuyasha, I know you're in there. The landlord saw you come back here last night. Open up."

Inuyasha pointed to the window, indicating I should jump out.

May I remind him that we are in the attic of a four story house, and I am in no way going to take a leap of faith out that skylight. I threw the blanket at him angrily. "Do something!" I hissed.

"Hide!" he hissed back and grabbed my uninjured elbow as he dragged us both to our feet and started pulling me towards the linen cupboard. My idea of a blissful little morning paradise was dissolving fast into hard reality.

The door swung open before we'd even made it halfway across the room and we both froze, mid-stride. Miroku stared at us, surprised or not surprised, I couldn't really tell. The guy had a tight lid on a lot of his emotions. "Oh… you're here." He remarked when he saw me. He didn't sound to happy.

So I did the only thing I knew how.

I wrenched my arm out of Inuyasha's grip and slapped him across the cheek. I didn't mean to be so hard, and the blow must have taken him by surprise because he reeled back in shock, holding his cheek and looking at me in bewilderment. I mentally pleaded he'd forgive me. "U-unhand me you beast!" I cried. "I only came back for my CDs! After today I never want to have to lay eyes on you again!"

With that I marched over to his shelf, lifted half of his CDs out of the rack and marched out the door with them, giving Miroku a curt nod of greeting as I passed. "Good day."

"Bye." Miroku waved back.

As soon as I was round the corner down a flight of stairs, I allowed myself to cringe and pray to all available gods that Miroku had bought it. It all depended on how perceptive he was… and Miroku was probably very much so.

Well… I'd probably have to drop by again and return the CDs I'd nicked. I glanced down miserably at the stack in my hands, then did a double take.

Brittany Spears?

~Inuyasha~

It had been a good shot, but Miroku didn't buy it. Mostly because I figured he'd already been told by the guy downstairs that Kagome had arrived with me last night and had been here since then.

"So you're with the Higurashi girl after all." Miroku nodded and looked to the side as if contemplating the idea. He shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. "Maybe… maybe that's why you left, so you could be with her."

"Lose my family, gain a girlfriend. Seemed a good deal." I retorted. But I knew he wasn't here for a friendly little chat. We were friends, but Miroku was also my father's employee… Miroku's personal feelings never got in the way of his business. "What do you want?"

Miroku watched me a moment before pulling his hands out of his pockets to fold his arms. He looked down at the floor. "Your father knows you're here."

"You told him!" I accused.

"I am not the only spy your father has employed. I may be the best he has but he does have a few that are easily able to follow the trail of a renegade son." He replied neatly. "I didn't tell him, I didn't have to. But he's sent me to retrieve you."

I snorted and moved to recline back on the beaten up couch. "Fat chance."

"You don't have a choice, Inuyasha. You have to come back." Miroku said quietly.

"Oh?" I gave him a nasty sneer. "And what in the world would make me go back to that hell hole?"

Miroku was still staring at the floor. As I looked at him now I began to realise that this was serious. Miroku had been sobered, he was sorry about what he was about to say… At that moment all I wanted to do was clap my hands over my ears and sing loud and hard to block out the sound of his voice.

"Your father has had you sacked from your hospital job. You also have no more job on the docks. He has been around the entire city and ensured that not one business, store or household will employ you. And… you've been evicted from this place."

My insides froze up. I still had that childish urge to just not listen to him and walk off. But that wouldn't help anything now…

"If you don't leave the premises by tonight then the bailiffs will come to turf you out." Miroku continued gently. "Any other place of residence you take up will be snatched from you before you can even step through the door, I promise you, your father has men all over the place watching your every move. He also knows that you're still sleeping with Kagome Higurashi."

I swallowed hard. Dread creeping slowly into my heart. I closed my eyes and tried to find a way out. But there was none. "What are his conditions?" I asked numbly.

"That you come back to the Arashi house and go back to the way things were. You're not to see Kagome ever again." Miroku looked up at me slowly. "I'm sorry…"

I tried to count to five… but I didn't make it past two. I exploded and swung to my feet and swiftly kicked the couch across the room into the opposite wall. Miroku didn't even flinch. I guess he was too used to my temper tantrums. I wanted to scare him, I wanted to get him angry. I just wanted someone to vent my anger on. "He can't do that! _He just can't!!_" I screamed. "He can't control my life like this! I hate him! I wish he'd just **_die_!**"

Miroku briefly raised his eyebrows but turned away and went to survey the contents of my fridge. He had this habit of ignoring my anger… it only infuriated me more. "You had the nerve to come down here and give me the ultimatum of the century! Give up my freedom and my love or else be cast out onto the street like a beggar and starve to death!"

"It's hardly an ultimatum." Miroku said evenly. "He's not giving you a choice. You either come back or he drags you back kicking and screaming."

"I am NOT going back there!" I yelled, as if raising my voice would get my feelings across better.

"You are under twenty four hour watch, even as we speak, Inuyasha, they're watching you. Wherever you go, they will follow, you can't run and you won't be able to hide." He shut the door of the fridge and turned back to me. "If I were you… I'd just hand myself over and agree to his terms."

"That's bull shit!" I snarled. "He hates me – why would he want me back?!"

"He hates you as much as he loves you." Miroku offered pitifully. "You rub each other the wrong way but at the end of the day he loves you…"

"He only wants me back because it would look bad if the press discovered his own son ran away from home." I snapped.

"That too…"

I glared at him hotly. I could give up my freedom and go back home. But giving up Kagome was out of the question. "I won't give up Kagome."

"You love her." Miroku sighed. "It's understandable. And… I sympathise greatly."

"You wouldn't understand how I feel – I don't want your pity!" I shouted.

"You don't have it. I have taken for granted that I can have anyone I choose really." He looked me in the eye. "There is no real barrier between the one I love… except for the fact that she's a little unwilling, but I'm sure she'll come around eventually. But nothing else stands between us. You and Kagome however… you two have a whole world between you. You _can't _be together."

"You don't-"

"There are thousands and thousands of other women and girls in the world, Inuyasha!" Miroku suddenly snapped out at me. "You could have Kikyo – she'd happily accept you! You could have the girl working down at the ice cream parlour! She's pretty and kind enough! You could walk up to any girl on the street and introduce yourself as Arashi's son and they would be falling over themselves for you! There are probably a hundred more beautiful than Kagome, and a hundred more intelligent and as many as kind and loving as she is! You could have any of them – but you chose the one girl who is off limits! You can't have a Higurashi!"

"Why not?!" I could feel myself fast dissolving into a childish argument. I was panicking, because I knew I was losing.

"If you go near her it will destroy everyone's reputation. Your family would never forgive you and hers would never forgive her. We will lose this election for sure and-"

"I don't care about that anymore-"

"And if you go near her again your father will have her killed!"

I was silence, abruptly. The bottom of my stomach dropped out and I almost felt the room sway as my head swam. I blinked once, twice, frowned and passed a hand over my brow. "What did you just say?" I must have misheard him… I had to have…

Miroku sighed and looked even more apologetic than before. "If your father learns that you are pursuing relations with Kagome Higurashi then your father will hire a hit-man and have her gunned down in the street." He clenched his jaw for a moment before going on. "It wouldn't be the first time he's had someone he doesn't like killed. Your father hates Higurashi's more than anything else… if you married one, o-or got her pregnant then he would kill her."

"You're kidding."

"I wouldn't joke about something like that!" He glared at me. "But do you really want to be responsible for her death? If you carry on seeing her she'll be dead by the end of the week. But you could walk away now and let her live. Break her heart swiftly and make it a clean break. Don't let your selfish obsession with love get her murdered."

No… I wouldn't let that happen…

~Kagome~

Sango gave me a hand in climbing the chainlink fence that guarded the length of the canal. I probably could have managed alone but with high heels on, scaling fences was quite tricky. My calf length skirt got caught once of twice on the wire, and I had to be careful in tugging it free… the gauzy material could easily rip.

"You should have worn jeans." Sango told me as I dropped down onto the concrete beside her.

"I hate trousers." I replied simply.

We headed off, walking along the canal in the direction of the current, following the path of the Shikon from the bridge. The ball of glass had floated… I'd seen that much when it had fallen in the water, so we both kept our eyes peeled in case it was bobbing around the edges of the canal caught in grass or pipes of some kind.

We found nothing until we eventually reached the filters. It was basically a dam with another road going across the top. Two holes in the dam covered by bars was letting the water drain freely into the plant works ahead. Branches and bits of junk were caught on these bars… but the Shikon had been small enough to slip through.

"Damn…" I muttered as I surveyed our problem.

Sango crouched down at the edge of the canal analysing the bars critically. "Old, rusty… I reckon if we come back tonight we could probably saw through them and get into the plant."

"Or go through the manhole up there." I pointed towards the road.

"Ah, point." Sango nodded and straightened. "Well, if the Shikon got past the first filter then it probably won't get past the second or third. The gaps in the grates become progressively smaller so debris won't get through. It'll be stuck in one of them."

"It's probably covered in all kinds of slime and unmentionably disgusting stuff." I wrinkled my nose as I thought of all the gross things that would be down there in the sewers. "Can I take a rain check on this one?"

"No." Sango laughed and brushed her hand affectionately across my arm as though I'd made a good joke. "Your father still wants you to have experience. He still has his delusions that one day you'll be some super ninja spy."

"My father is just delusional full stop." I snorted contemptuously.

After that little detour we headed to town to go for a bit of shopping before going home. I was tired and I wanted to go to bed early… so I could slip out early tomorrow morning to go see Inuyasha.

No sooner had we got through than our father marched past. I opened my mouth to say hi, but his stormy expression shut me up effectively. Without breaking stride he crooked a finger to Sango, hinting strongly that she should follow him. Sango glanced at me with that 'uh oh' type of expression and trailed after him miserably. I wonder what she'd done wrong this time.

"Kagome!"

I turned and saw Souta bounding towards me, sturdy as ever on his newly healed leg. I smiled and set down my shopping to greet him by ruffling his hair. "Did you get it?" he demanded, impatiently pushing my hand off his head and straightened his disturbed locks.

"Get what?" I played dumb.

"What I told you to get!" he said. "Oh… don't tell me you forgot?! Kagome!"

"Oh relax, squirt." I picked up one of the bags and dumped it into his eagerly awaiting hands. "That thing cost five more than you said it would. You owe me."

"Sure, but thanks!" He grinned happily as he ran off, cradling the video game close to his chest like his most prized possession.

I glanced back to where Sango was stood at the edge of the entrance hall in the doorway of the dining room listening to my father talking. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could tell from the expression on Sango's face that she was taking it all in with a stony silence.

I waited curiously until my father patted Sango on the shoulder and walked off. Sango stood there for a moment, jaw still locked tightly in anger, staring into the space he'd just occupied. I frowned… why was she so angry? Had he fired her…?

Sango suddenly seemed to remember I was there and turned to look at me. She walked slowly towards me, her face still strangely vacant and detached from reality. As she neared I frowned. "What's up?"

"Your father just…" she stopped in front of me and shifted stance. "He just…" She shook her head and looked around. "Uh, come with me. This isn't the kind of thing we should discuss out here."

We abandoned the shopping in the hall and went into one of the storage rooms on the first floor. It was the size of a small bedroom, filled with shelves of linen and blankets. Whatever it was Sango wanted to tell me, it had to be secret because we didn't normally go private places to discuss our work.

As soon as I shut the door behind me Sango whirled on me. "Arashi plans to have you killed."

I stared at her. It didn't sink in at all. "You what?"

"Arashi! Gun! You!" Sango walked backwards till she met the wall, then she leaned against it, needing its support. "Your father just told me."

"Mr Arashi… wants to kill me?" I repeated. No, it still didn't sink in. "Oh."

"We have no solid proof, but we've heard intelligence about it." She said quickly. "Your father said that Inuyasha was seen moving back into the Arashi household earlier this afternoon, the same time it was heard that if he found out about any further relationship between you and his son, he would have you assassinated."

I laughed. "He can't do that, it's against the law."

Sango's face was strained and pale. "People like him are above the law Kagome."

Then it began to hit me, full force. "He wants to kill me…"

"Only if you keep dating Inuyasha!" Sango said hurriedly. "Dammit, Kagome, please say that things are over between you two?!"

I couldn't.

She saw my silence and hissed a curse under her breath. "God… you have to end it now. If you don't you will be just another chalk outline on the side-walk."

"Don't say that!" I cried. It was beginning to scare me.

"And it's not just Mr Arashi either!" Sango went on. "Your father was kind enough to inform me that he would retaliate if any threat was made against you – he'd send someone after Inuyasha as well-"

"That's insane!" I shouted. "You can't just kill someone because you feel like it! It's wrong!"

"Arashi doesn't care and neither does your Dad!" Sango shot back. "If you don't end this ridiculous affair then they will! They can't stand the thought of you two together and they are insane enough to go as far as kill you both to keep you apart! To keep these two families apart!"

Tears were welling up. It just seemed too unfair. Everyone else could have any kind of relationship they wanted with whoever they wanted. Other girls my age went out a guys a hundred times worse than Inuyasha and their father's never threatened to kill the boys… well, possibly they did, but only my Father was ruthless enough to go through with it.

"He can't… please, tell him to leave Inuyasha alone?!" I begged. "I love him – I don't want him killed."

"And I don't want to see you killed either." Sango said fiercely. "If I had to choose between you, I would choose to save tour life in a heart beat… don't complicate this. _Stop this charade_!"

I turned heel and ran out of the room. I couldn't face her anymore. But I knew that I had no choice… I knew what I had to do.

~Inuyasha~

It turned out to be like some organised event. One that everyone attended, but _shhh! _we're not supposed to know about it! We met in the shopping precinct, at the same café where we'd first broken up, and at the very same table. I hated this place… I felt there were bound to be more bad memories on their way.

I sat down under the shade of the large parasol and ordered a drink from the waitress while I waited for her to arrive.

Already I had spotted several people I knew my father employed recently as new, additional spies for him. There was one sitting at a table close by, pretending to read the newspaper and slowly making his way through an ice-cream sundae. A woman with a small child sitting in the café next door worked for the Higurashi's, she wasn't fooling anyone, I knew she was one of Kagome's cousins.

Twelve Arashi people were stationed around the precinct altogether. The tramp on the park bench dressed in five outfits and three duffel bags around him was one, the guy selling newspapers on the stand was one. The guy on the street corner selling magazines for a hundred yen each was another. The couple making lovey-dovey eyes at one another on another park bench were both spies making lovey-dovey eyes at me instead. There were equally as many Higurashi spies stationed around, if not more.

And to cap the ice berg, Sango sat inside the café at a table. But she wasn't watching me, she was too busy glaring at Miroku who was busily chatting up the waitress. I guess he wasn't particularly fussed with watching me either.

I had a feeling there was at least half a dozen cameras on me. I had already spotted the microphone bug in the salt pot.

I rolled my eyes and rapped my claws against the table as I waited. My stomach was doing flip-flops and butterflies, but I daren't let any of it show on my face.

She was pale and unsmiling when she arrived. She sat down in a formal like fashion opposite me and looked around. Her gaze lingered on a few of the spies I'd spotted before glancing at the salt pot… then finally at me, but her eyes faltered to the table after a moment or two. I watched with a growing ache in my chest as a pained frown tensed her forehead. Her bag was still over her shoulder, held in her lap… almost as if she expected to be leaving at any moment.

Well she would. This would be our short, last encounter with each other.

"Kagome," I started on safe ground with her name, I paused for a moment and out of the corner of my eye I saw the woman with the child staring in my direction, the man with the newspaper and ice cream had stopped reading, but he still stared at the words. Sango and Miroku had sat down together and were now looking everywhere but at me and Kagome… but I knew their attention was fixed solely on us. They all waited for the performance they'd come to see. "Kagome… we can't see each other any more."

Simple. A simple clean break to the heart, Miroku had said. Yet I knew the heart was my own.

She stared at the table for a moment before nodding. "I understand." She probably did understand. I knew and she knew that it would be our grave stones lying beside each other for eternity if this continued.

"I'm sorry." I said lamely.

"Me too." She pasted on a false smile and looked up at me. It was beautiful, but painful to watch. "It was fun though, right?"

A false smile came to me as well. "Right…"

"Well…"

We'd run out of words now. I stared at her and she stared at he little flower arrangement on the table. She looked like she was about to be sick… and I felt awful for doing this.

"I should go." She said suddenly, standing up quickly, her eyes not quite meeting mine, the bag falling back to her side easily. "I promised to take Souta to the zoo with some friends…"

"Oh."

She stood dumbly for a moment, looking lost. Her gaze darted to my face for a moment before she stepped away from her chair and moved past me. I couldn't help myself… my hand shot out and gripped her wrist. She stopped and looked down at me, waiting for me to say something.

"See you around." I said, letting my hand slide deliberately across her arm and over her hip.

"No…" she said distantly, stepping out of my range and walking away. I didn't bother following her progress. As soon as she had left the table as slumped forward and folded my arms to support my chin.

The waitress came out and set down my strawberry milk-shake before me. She smiled. She had Higurashi eyes. She smiled, but those eyes hated me. Another spy… Whatever… "Thanks." I said half-heartedly as a saluted her away.

In the time it took me to finish that milkshake the woman with the child decided to take the kid back to play-school. The guy with the newspaper and ice-cream folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket before he left, leaving a half finished desert on the table with a few coins.

The tramp got up and walked away with his overstuffed duffel bags, I noticed that even though he wasn't the real deal everyone still avoided him like the plague. The guy selling the magazine wandered away, the man selling newspapers closed his store and the couple on the bench decided to take their love elsewhere.

Sango discreetly left, but she didn't follow Kagome… which surprised me. Miroku came out a few minutes later, gave me a squeeze on the shoulder before following after Sango.

I was alone again. I finished my milkshake and left my money, along with a little tip for the Higurashi waitress. I'm sure that would suitably insult her.

I left the café.

~Kagome~

He deposited the note in my jacket pocket like we'd arranged. He made it look like some fond farewell touch. I wondered if perhaps it had looked too intimate of him… if my father had seen that he may just decide to kill Inuyasha anyway. That wasn't on my list of fun things.

I knew there were still a few of the spies following me still so I brought tears to my eyes and headed into the ladies room of one of the local restaurants. I didn't have to feign the tears really… my heart and mind was in so much turmoil and shot that they came easily once I let my guard down for a moment.

In the bathroom I bolted the door so no one could follow and sat down in one of the stalls to read the note he'd given me.

'_Lern 2 keep ur big mowth shut. Meat me @ Miroku's house 2nite, he's nevr there, make sure u r n't followed.'_

Easily arranged. I lifted the note and kissed it loudly before ripping it up into shreds and flushing it down the toilet. 

I left the ladies' room feeling better than I had since that morning.

~*~

I guaranteed no one followed me that night. I went to bed at a usual time, and made a big show of how depressed and miserable I was to my family. They weren't all that sympathetic, but nevermind. They were all popping champagne and balloons the minute I was gone, I reckon.

I waited until the rest of the house had gone to sleep before getting dressed and slipping out of my window. I was invisible to the world. No guard, spy or innocent bystander would ever see me.

I ran all the way to Miroku's house. I'd gotten the directions out of Sango's address book. (I got the impression that it was Miroku's handwriting in there, giving her his number and address should she ever find herself yearning for him at any inexplicable moment. Not happening.)

I stayed invisible all the way, slipping in the front door without knocking – it was already open in invitation when I arrived. The moment the door was closed and I had done a preliminary sweep of the hall to make sure there were no cameras or listening devices, I let my guard drop and I returned to normal.

Miroku's house was… surprisingly neat. It seemed like no one had lived here for a long time though. I'd heard from Inuyasha that Miroku spent so much of his time at the Arashi household that he had slept over one night and had never come back to this place since.

All the lights were out and I began to doubt if Inuyasha had been able to make it at all. I began to explore.

I walked into the kitchen, the room at the end of the hall, then the living room, the bathroom, then I pattered up the stairs to take a look at what lay up there.

There were two bedrooms. One small, one large. It seemed that Miroku had used the smaller room in his time here with the single bed, seeing as how it was filled with the kind of things young men had in their bedrooms. I shook my head at all the magazines littering the floor and desk and went to look at the larger bedroom. I pushed open the door and went inside, up to the bed and touched the soft quilt with my fingertips. This room was untouched. Dark, sparse and quiet.

Arms wrapped around my frame and pulled me back against a larger one. I smiled, I wasn't afraid, because I already knew it was him. I almost felt him in this room before I'd entered.

"No one else in the world…" he murmured against my hair. "… knows we are here now…"

"Just us." I agreed quietly and turned in his arms to greet him with a proper kiss. I felt his arms tighten around me, and my hands rested on his shoulders lightly, before gripping the material of his shirt tightly between my fingers.

We broke the kiss for a moment to breathe, Inuyasha didn't waste any precious moment with air as he rained small kisses down across my cheek and brow. I leaned into him, savouring our moment. "I love you…" I whispered. I thought of all the bad things that would happen if anyone knew that fact for certain. My father would kill him, and his father would kill me. It seemed impossible… and it brought tears to my eyes.

"It seems that if I really love you I would let you go… let you be safe." He told me, still holding me close. I could his heart beating rapidly in his chest, the same way it had done when we'd first met and he'd held my hand to its rhythm. "But you're also my addiction, I just can't let you go."

"Not without a fight." I said with determination. We looked at each other and then we kissed again. I let all my love, all my fear and apprehension pour into it. All my passion for him, all my anger for the rest of the world at not recognising that what we had between us was beautiful… not an abomination that needed to be destroyed.

He seemed to return everything I had with equal vigour, equal love and twice the passion.

I knew why he'd invited me along here tonight, of all places. I knew what he planned to do while our two families celebrated our break-up. I had known when I'd read his note and still I'd come here because it was what I'd wanted. I felt no more uncertainties between us, I knew everything he was and he knew me better than I knew myself. We really were in love… but no one would know except for the two of us

The future stretched ahead like a long bleak trial. Would we survive it? It seemed black and dull. How could we be free to love each other when everywhere we went there would be people watching us. The slightest interaction between us outside of our little rendezvous would be recorded and analysed. If one or both of our fathers didn't like what he saw… then one or both of us would be dead.

Politics was a deadly game. I'd been born into it, surrounded by hate and greed.

But none of that mattered right then as we tumbled back onto the bed, disturbing the immaculate bedding. We noticed none of this as we continued to kiss and explore each other with roaming hands, losing articles of clothing one by one.

It seemed impossible… but my love for him would stretch to eternity and back, beyond the impossible.

But between love and eternity there was only death.

AN: Seems to have come back to that Romeo and Juliet theme…


End file.
